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When Kiril Lazarov — one of the greatest athletes his country has ever produced — took over as head coach of the North Macedonia national team on 14 February 2021 (as the 21st head coach in the team’s history), he was still wearing playing shoes. But his desire to dedicate himself to coaching one day was immense. An injury prevented him from becoming the first player-head coach to appear at a major tournament in January 2022, and since then, the all-time top scorer in the EHF Champions League has been firmly in command of the space in front of the bench and behind the sideline — something now confirmed by a new agreement with the Handball Federation of North Macedonia, which will run until 2029.
Lazarov is, without doubt, a phenomenon in the world of handball. There is hardly another national team that, throughout its history, has relied so heavily on a single man. As captain of the national team, the left-handed bomber from Sveti Nikole featured at every European Championship of the 21st century — starting with EHF EURO 2012, hosted in Niš and Belgrade, where North Macedonia achieved their greatest result by finishing fifth.
This will be his third EHF EURO as head coach. Before that, he played in five European Championships, and in four of those, North Macedonia reached the main round (TOP 12). While he was writing the country’s handball history with his left arm as the team’s biggest star, it often seemed that only his birth certificate — his age — kept him from appearing at absolutely every major tournament North Macedonia ever played.
Let’s remember: Lazarov made his debut as a 19-year-old at the 1999 World Championship in Egypt. The only major tournament North Macedonia played without Kiril Lazarov was EHF EURO 1998 in Italy. Back then — just a month after turning 18 — it was already becoming clear what kind of player the land “where the eternal sun shines” was about to be given…
