[5] While playing for the Nerazzurri, Pandev collected a host of honours including winning the Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Champions League in 2010 as part of a treble for the club.

Pandev was born in Strumica, SR Macedonia, which was part of Yugoslavia at the time, and began his football career with FK Belasica, the club with which he progressed through the youth academy.

[10] He only spent one season in the local Prva Liga, however, before being signed by Serie A giants Inter Milan in the summer of 2001 when he was just 18 years old.

In January 2004, Serbian player Dejan Stanković was signed by Inter from Lazio and Pandev was sent to the capital in exchange on a co-ownership deal, for a nominal fee of €500,[13] but he remained at Ancona until the end of the 2003–04 season.

The following season, Delio Rossi was appointed manager of Lazio and Pandev began to form a deadly strike partnership with Tommaso Rocchi.

During this period, various clubs had indicated their interest in buying Pandev, most notably Zenit Saint Petersburg, who made an offer of €13 million for the player.

[20] On 26 September, Pandev officially filed for a termination of his contract with Lazio, having been frozen out of the squad and labelled a "rebel" by the club.

[25] He opened his scoring account in his third appearance for the club, pulling a goal back for Inter in an eventual 2–2 draw at Bari.

[26] Pandev was the main protagonist in the 2–0 victory over local rivals Milan as he first assisted Diego Milito with an overhead cross and scored a curling freekick to complete the win.

[27] He continued with his solid performances throughout the season, being an important player in Inter's winning of the first treble in the history of Italian football.

[28] On 22 May 2010, Inter won the UEFA Champions League in the final against Bayern Munich, with Pandev playing for 79 minutes and becoming the third Macedonian football player in history to ever win this championship.

[8] On 15 March 2011, in the second leg of 2010–11 UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie against Bayern Munich, Pandev resulted decisive by scoring in the 88th minute following a Samuel Eto'o pass to make it 3–2 for Inter.

[35][36] Later on 29 May 2011, in the 2011 Coppa Italia final match against Palermo, Pandev entered in the second half and provided the assist of Diego Milito goal in the 92nd minute for a 3–1 success.

[45] On 28 September 2013, Pandev scored both goals in Napoli's win over Genoa, sending the Neapolitans to the top of the league table.

[56] Pandev made his senior debut for Macedonia in a June 2001 FIFA World Cup qualification match away against Turkey.

[62] He scored the team's only goal in North Macedonia's 1–0 Euro 2020 play-off victory over Georgia in November 2020, which saw his nation qualify for a major international tournament for the very first time.

[73] A year later, he auctioned the shirt he wore in the match in which he gained his 100th cap for Macedonia for a hospital fighting the coronavirus pandemic.