Ilija Nestorovski


Ilija Nestorovski is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Udinese, whom he captains, and the North Macedonia national team.

Club career

Born in Prilep, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia, Nestorovski started his career at hometown club FK Pobeda. Joining their youth academy in 2000, he made his senior debut in 2006. Between 2006 and 2010, he made 96 league appearances for Pobeda, scoring 39 goals.
In the early weeks of 2010, Nestorovski then moved to Czech First League side 1. FC Slovácko. He made 11 appearances in the remaining matches of the season, scoring his first and only league goal for that campaign in a 3–1 win over Slavia Prague. The following season, he made 17 appearances, once more scoring a single league goal.
Nestorovski then went out on loan to Viktoria Žižkov where he spent the first half of the 2011–12 season. He left the relegation battlers in January 2012 and moved to Metalurg Skopje. He spent the next 12 months at Metalurg.
After not playing a single game for almost six months, Nestorovski signed for NK Inter Zaprešić on 9 August 2013, initially on a loan deal. He had a breakout year, scoring 20 times in the Croatian Second Football League and twice in the Croatian Football Cup. He extended his loan deal for another 12 months with Inter over the summer. The following season, Nestorovski found even more success, netting 24 times in 27 league games as Inter were promoted to the Croatian First Football League. Inter then signed him on a permanent deal.
After scoring 13 times in the first half of the 1. HNL, Nestorovski was signed by Italian Serie A side U.S. Città di Palermo, but spent the remainder of the 2015–16 season with Inter. Inter received a transfer fee of €500,000 while the player signed a four-year contract, starting in July 2016. After a first season with 11 goal and 3 assists he was chosen as captain after deciding to remain in the relegating club of Palermo despite interests from clubs such as Fiorentina and Everton.
On 26 July 2019, he signed with Udinese, after Palermo was excluded from Serie B.

International career

Nestorovski played for the Macedonia national under-21 football team, and played in all six of their group matches in the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
He made his senior international debut for Macedonia in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying against Ukraine on 9 October 2015. On 29 May 2016, he scored his first goal for the national team against Azerbaijan in a friendly match in Austria.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
129 May 2016Sportplatz Bad Erlach, Bad Erlach, Austria73–13–1Friendly
26 October 2016Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia91–21–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
39 October 2016Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia101–12–32018 FIFA World Cup qualification
424 March 2017Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein122–03–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
524 March 2017Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein123–03–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
616 November 2018Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein262–02–02018–19 UEFA Nations League D
719 November 2018Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia27
2–0
4–0
2018–19 UEFA Nations League D
819 November 2018Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia273–0
4–0
2018–19 UEFA Nations League D