Player Ratings: North Macedonia 1-1 England as Unbeaten Three Lions Finish 2023 With A Limp

In 2023, England ended their successful UEFA European Championship qualification campaign without defeat. In the final game, held on Monday night in Skopje, they concluded with a lacklustre 1-1 draw against North Macedonia. This game formed part of the UEFA European Championship set to take place in Germany next year.

Even though England had already secured the leading position in Group C and North Macedonia was already out of the competition, it was the latter that made the first score. Enis Bardhi managed to score after Rico Lewis was given a penalty for handball.

England succeeded in levelling the score when a corner hit Jani Atanasov and turned into an own goal. This was in stark contrast to England's 7-0 victory in a previous match. That night, they were not as creative or efficient at Tose Proeski Arena.

Although they did not win, England was unperturbed because they still topped the group. However, their performance during the November international break fell short of their ambitions of becoming the top-ranked team globally.

In the first November international break game, England had a 2-0 victory over Malta. This victory was the result of a struggle and lacked excitement.

England struggled in this game's first half, with Declan Rice coming closest to scoring. Their backline also looked vulnerable. They survived a couple of scares, including Harry Maguire losing the ball and then bumping into Elif Elmas without any penalty being given.

The hosts' breakthrough came after a contentious VAR call. It resulted in a penalty awarded by referee Filip Glova. The new player Lewis won the header, but his flailing arm accidentally caught Bojan Miovski in the face. Pickford saved Bardhi's strike, but the ball rebounded, allowing North Macedonia to take the lead.

Phil Foden's skilful dribbling opened a scoring opportunity just before half time. However, Lewis's low drive was stopped by Stole Dimitrievski, after which Trent Alexander-Arnold's 20-yard strike resulted in another save.

England seemed to rebound in the second half when Jack Grealish scored. A three-minute VAR check curtailed celebrations as it was ruled in favor of North Macedonia.

The necessary equaliser came with the introduction of the captain, Harry Kane, who managed to make a goal from Foden's corner. However, after this goal, England seemed to lose their momentum due to several controversial referee decisions that hampered their pressing game.

Southgate's side is set to enter Euro 2024 as potential winners despite their last two games highlighting some creativity and energy deficits. Some issues that the manager is hoping to address in next year's friendlies against Brazil and Belgium in March.