It was a slow burner in Bucharest between Austria and North Macedonia as Stefan Lainer opened the scoring with the first chance in the 18th minute. The Austrian defender capitalized on Marcel Sabitzer's pinpoint cross to the far post to beat Stole Dimitrievski from close range.

Austria's lead didn't last long as North Macedonia hit back ten minutes later when Goran Pandev took advantage of a ricocheted ball inside the box to tap home the equalizer out of the blue.

After the interval, Igor Angelovski's men took over control and pressed Austria on the back foot in the early stages as Austria goalkeeper Daniel Backmann denied Boban Nikolov a good chance an hour into the game.

Austria head coach Franco Foda reacted to his team's performance and fielded Michael Gregoritsch and Marko Arnautovic.

Foda's substitutions paid off as Gregoritsch made the most of David Alaba's cross into the box, putting Austria 2-1 ahead in the 78th minute.

North Macedonia's resistance was broken as Arnautovic made it three after slotting home Lainer's backheel pass in the dying minutes of the game. Austria had even the chance to make it four, but Dimitrievski got the better of Lainer in a one-on-one.

"Overall, I was very happy with the performance. We started well, worked hard off the ball, were aggressive, and deserved to take the lead. We could have made it 2-0 through Kalajdzic, then we conceded from one lapse in concentration," said Austria head coach Franco Foda.

"I told my players to keep their heads up, we go on. We begin to prepare for the next game against Ukraine," said North Macedonia head coach Igor Angelovski.

With the results in Group C, Austria secured the top spot, followed by the Netherlands, Ukraine, and North Macedonia. On Thursday, Ukraine takes on North Macedonia whereas the Netherlands faces Austria for the top clash.