Malta was drawn in Group F together with Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia and Georgia while Macedonia were drawn in Group B together with Russia, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Armenia and Andorra.
The two countries already met five times – three friendly matches and two European Championship qualifiers with FYR Macedonia winning the five games. At Ta’ Qali, Macedonia won 2-0 in November 1996 and 2-1 in November 1998.
The next game for Malta is a friendly match against Finland on March 3. Malta then travels to Aachen to face Germany in another friendly match on May 13.