Making friends is really two things. People think it is meeting the "right" people and start connecting with them, as if connecting always comes naturally. There are people who have "friends", people they see a lot, but they never feel connected to them so they feel lonely anyway. To have friendship you don't only need to find someone, you must also feel connected to them.

It is nothing you can force, but something you can work with. Some people have issues that are possible to bypass knowing yourself enough.