Aleksandar Trajkovski

Aleksandar Trajkovski (Macedonian: Александар Трајковски; born 5 September 1992) is a Macedonian footballer who plays for Saudi Professional League club Al-Fayha and the North Macedonia national team. Mainly a forward, he can also play as a winger or an attacking midfielder.

Aleksandar Trajkovski
Trajkovski playing for Macedonia in 2022
Personal information
Full name Aleksandar Trajkovski
Date of birth (1992-09-05) 5 September 1992
Place of birth Skopje, Macedonia
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward, winger
Club information
Current team
  Al-Fayha
Number 92
Youth career
2008–2009 Cementarnica 55
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2010 Cementarnica 55 11 (2)
2010–2011 Inter Zaprešić 15 (4)
2011–2015 Zulte Waregem 65 (8)
2013–2014 → Mechelen (loan) 16 (1)
2015–2019 Palermo 104 (16)
2019–2022 Mallorca 23 (0)
2021–2022 → AaB (loan) 7 (1)
2022– Al-Fayha 5 (0)
National team‡
2011–2014 Macedonia U21 15 (3)
2011– North Macedonia 76 (20)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:57, 18 March 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 April 2022

Club career

Trajkovski began his career with FK Cementarnica 55. In May 2010, he joined Chelsea in a trial, scoring the winning goal against Botafogo at the U-19 Copa Amsterdam tournament which guaranteed Chelsea a place in the semi-finals.[2]

After a few years with Cementarnica Skopje, he signed for Inter Zaprešić in the summer of 2010.[3] Good performances in the second half of the season attracted the interest of Dinamo Zagreb,[4][5] but Trajkovski said that he was not interested in a possible move. At the end of the season, R.S.C. Anderlecht was interested in buying Trajkovski, but their offer of a €500,000 transfer fee was rejected.[5] He joined the Belgian club Zulte Waregem for the new 2011–12 season after their offer of €1.1m was accepted by Inter Zaprešić.[5][6]

In the summer of 2015, he moved to Italian Serie A club Palermo, signing a five-year contract.[7] In the same year, he was named "Macedonian footballer of the year".[8] Following Palermo's exclusion from the Serie B, he was released together with all other players in July 2019.

On 7 August 2019, Trajkovski agreed to a four-year contract with La Liga newcomers RCD Mallorca.[9] After two seasons at Mallorca, Trajkovski was loaned out to Danish Superliga club AaB on 31 August 2021, for the rest of the season.[10]

On 30 January 2022, Trajkovski joined Saudi club Al-Fayha on an 18-month contract.[11]

International career

On 22 May 2012, the Macedonia national under21 team defeated the Netherlands 1–0 in a friendly, with the lone goal scored by Trajkovski.[12][13]

He made his senior debut for Macedonia on 10 August 2011 in a 1–0 friendly match victory away to Azerbaijan, and scored his first goal two years and four days later to conclude a 2–0 home win over neighbours Bulgaria in another exhibition.[14] He scored a hat-trick on 12 November 2015 in a 4–1 win over Montenegro at the Philip II Stadium in Skopje.[15]

Trajkovski was selected for UEFA Euro 2020, North Macedonia's first major tournament.[16] On 24 March 2022, he scored a last-minute long-range goal in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff semi-finals to beat Italy 1–0 at his former club ground in Palermo, eliminating Italy from the World Cup for a second consecutive time.[17]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 23 May 2021[18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cementarnica 55 2009–10[19] 2. MFL 11200——112
Inter Zaprešić 2010–11 1. HNL 15400——154
Zulte Waregem 2011–12 Belgian Pro League 17211—6[lower-alpha 1]1244
2012–13 19330—5[lower-alpha 1]0273
2013–14 20003[lower-alpha 2]0—50
2014–15 273413[lower-alpha 3]06[lower-alpha 1]2406
Total 65882601739613
Mechelen (loan) 2013–14 Belgian Pro League 16110—6[lower-alpha 1]2233
Palermo 2015–16 Serie A 32311——334
2016–17 11100——111
2017–18 Serie B 27423—4[lower-alpha 4]0337
2018–19 34820——368
Total 1041654—4011320
Mallorca 2019–20 La Liga 14030——170
2020–21 Segunda División 9021——111
Total 23051——281
Career total 234311976027528643
  1. Appearance(s) in Belgian Pro League Playoffs
  2. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearance(s) in Serie B Playoffs

International
As of match played 24 March 2022[14]
North Macedonia
YearAppsGoals
201140
201210
201392
201461
201584
201631
201783
201884
201970
202060
2021144
202211
Total7520
Scores and results list North Macedonia's goal tally first.[14]
List of international goals scored by Aleksandar Trajkovski
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.14 August 2013Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia Bulgaria
2–0
2–0
Friendly
2.6 September 2013 Wales
2–1
2–1
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.9 October 2014 Luxembourg
1–0
3–2
UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
4.27 March 2015 Belarus
1–0
1–2
5.12 November 2015 Montenegro2–04–1Friendly
6.3–0
7.4–0
8.2 June 2016 Iran
1–1
1–3
9.5 September 2017Stadion Mladost, Strumica, Macedonia Albania
1–1
1–1
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
10.6 October 2017Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Turin, Italy Italy
1–1
1–1
11.9 October 2017Stadion Mladost, Strumica, Macedonia Liechtenstein
2–0
4–0
12.27 March 2018Mardan Sports Complex, Antalya, Turkey Azerbaijan
1–1
1–1
Friendly
13.13 October 2018Philip II Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia Liechtenstein
1–0
4–1
2018–19 UEFA Nations League D
14.
2–0
15.19 November 2018 Gibraltar
4–0
4–0
16.25 March 2021Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania Romania
2–2
2–3
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
17.28 March 2021Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia Liechtenstein
2–0
5–0
18.
3–0
19.11 November 2021Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia Armenia
1–0
5–0
20.24 March 2022Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo, Italy Italy
1–0
1–0
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Notes
  1. "Aleksandar Trajkovski – Prima squadra 2016/2017 – U.S. Città di Palermo". U.S. Città di Palermo (in Italian). Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  2. "Aleksandar Trajkovski guest player for Chelsea". Macedonian Football. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  3. "Trajkovski Aleksandar". Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  4. "Trajkovski na meti Dinama". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  5. Vande Velde, Stephane (23 June 2011). "Anderlecht se fait doubler pour Trajkovski". Sport/Foot Magazine (in French). Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  6. "Aleksandar Trajkovski joins Zulte Waregem". macedonianfootball.com. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  7. "TRAJKOVSKI E' ROSANERO". palermocalcio.it. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  8. "Trajkovski nominato miglior calciatore dell'anno". mediagol.it. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  9. "Acuerdo con Aleksandar Trajkovski" [Agreement with Aleksandar Trajkovski] (in Spanish). RCD Mallorca. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  10. AaB lejer offensiv profil, aabsport.dk, 31 August 2021
  11. "المقدوني ألكسندر ترايكوفسكي ينتقل للفيحاء".
  12. "U21 friendly: Netherlands – Macedonia 0:1". MacedonianFootball.com. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  13. "У-21: Трајковски ги урна Холанѓаните" (in Macedonian). ekipa.mk. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  14. "Aleksandar Trajkovski Profile". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  15. "(North) Macedonia - International Results". RSSSF. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  16. "North Macedonia's full 26-man Euro 2020 squad". The Athletic. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  17. "Italy 0–1 North Macedonia". BBC Sport. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  18. "A. Trajkovski". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  19. Aleksandar Trajkovski at National-Football-Teams.com
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