Armenian Sports News

It wasn’t the optimal result for Armenia, but it could’ve been much worse.

Armenia and North Macedonia played to a scoreless draw in Skopje, North Macedonia, as Armenia earned another point to remain on top of Group J play in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan played in his first game in this year’s qualifiers and he was highly active throughout the game, generating a number of scoring chances especially in the first half.

North Macedonia dominated the possession throughout the game, controlling the ball for two-thirds of the match, but Armenia had the better chances, securing three shots on goal compared to North Macedonia’s one. Goalkeeper David Yurchenko made a key save in the final minutes of the game to preserve the draw for Armenia.

The win extended Armenia’s unbeaten streak in competitive non-friendlies to nine games. The squad is now 6-1-3 under head coach Joaquin Caparros.

Up next for the Armenians is a date against Germany in Stuttgart on Sunday in what will easily be their most difficult match of the World Cup qualifiers. Germany defeated Liechtenstein, 2-0, on Thursday and as a result, they trail Armenia by just one point in the standings heading into Sunday’s match.

Armenia will get some reinforcements back against Germany. Tigran Barseghyan, Varazdat Haroyan and Khoren Bayramyan all missed Thursday’s match due to suspensions, but are set to return Sunday.