The hosts left it late to snatch a point, with Alioski scoring in the 86th minute to draw level.

Both sides threatened in the opening minutes at Todor Proeski National Arena, with Nicolas Raskin and Alexis Saelemaekers squandering good opportunities inside the opening 20 minutes.

The hosts immediately threatened, striking the woodwork twice in quick succession as Eljif Elmas first bent a shot onto the inside of the post before Alioski failed to turn in the rebound.

Maxim De Cuyper finally put Belgium ahead just before the half-hour mark, capitalising smartly on a rebounded save off Romelu Lukaku’s close-range shot.

North Macedonia raced out of the blocks after the break with renewed vigour and was immediately rewarded when Bojan Ilievski drew it level with a fine finish just three minutes after the restart, although the goal was ruled out for offside after a video assistant referee (VAR) review.

The hosts continued to ask questions of Belgium's disorganised defence, but Jeremy Doku, ever the livewire, posed a constant threat and tried to set up Raskin, who could only guide his effort onto the post.

Belgium looked like it was going to scrape a win before Darko Churlinov clipped an excellent cross in behind with just four minutes remaining, which Alioski met with a thundering left-footed volley to level the scores.

North Macedonia sits second in Group J, having earned five points from three qualifiers. Belgium, meanwhile, is in fourth after its first qualifying match.