North Macedonian coach Igor Angelovski has been appointed head coach of the Tajikistan national team. He replaces Serbian coach Goran Stevanović, who left the post after the team completed qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, the Tajikistan Football Federation reported.

Angelovski will prepare Tajikistan for the final tournament, which will be held in Saudi Arabia.

The appointment came as something of a surprise. Tajik media had mainly linked the job with Vitaliy Levchenko and Petar Šegrt.

The 49-year-old is best known for his work with North Macedonia. In 2020, he led the national team to the European Championship for the first time in its history. At Euro 2020, North Macedonia lost all three group-stage matches — against Austria, Ukraine and the Netherlands. After the defeat to the Netherlands, Angelovski said it was his final press conference as head coach, as his contract was expiring and he would no longer lead the team.

At club level, Angelovski’s main success came with Rabotnički. In the 2013/14 season, he won the North Macedonian league title and also lifted the domestic cup twice.

He has also worked with Croatian side Gorica and Cypriot club Ethnikos Achna. In 2023, Angelovski had a short spell with Kazakhstan’s Kaspiy. He took over the Aktau club during the season, when the team was near the bottom of the table, but failed to turn the situation around and left after three months. Kaspiy were eventually relegated from the top division.

Angelovski becomes Tajikistan’s third Balkan coach in four years and the second in succession after Stevanović. Under the Serbian coach, Tajikistan reached the Asian Cup finals, but the parties did not agree on a contract extension.