Report: England 1-2 Greece
Match report and key stats as the Three Lions are defeated in the Nations League at Wembley
England v Greece
UEFA Nations League
League B, Group 2 fixture
7.45pm BST, Thursday 10 October 2024
Wembley Stadium connected by EE
Lee Carsley confirmed that John Stones will captain England for their Nations League game with Greece at Wembley.
As he faced the press on Wednesday evening, Carsley also provided an injury update on Harry Kane and Jack Grealish, while Stones described what an honour it will be to lead the team out on Thursday evening.
Here is what the pair had to say.
Carsley on Kane's fitness and what it means for Stones…
Harry is nursing an injury, a small knock. He won't start. It's something we won't take a chance with and I was able to have a great conversation with John to ask him to captain the team. It's a brilliant achievement for John, the experience he's got, the professionalism he shows, the example he is. It was a great conversation to have.
On Cole Palmer…
Cole's in fantastic form. He's carried that into this week, he's such an exciting player and he, along with a lot of the others, have put themselves into a great position to start.
On the quick turnaround since arriving on Monday…
We've had enough time. We had to bear in mind the amount of games the players are coming from and resisting the temptation to do too much with them. They're so enthusiastic when they come on camp we can't overdo it. We had a really good session in the build-up and we're ready to go now.
How he fits all the attacking players in one team…
We've got a lot of options to choose from. It's important we find that balance, we've got a lot of options across the two games, and we want a really attacking performance. We have to get the combinations right.
On Jude Bellingham…
He's a fantastic player, a good person and really enthusiastic. He takes everything in his stride but we don't want to put too much pressure on them. We want to support them and he's really impressive.
On Jack Grealish's fitness…
We'll assess Jack later. He picked up a slight knock yesterday and we won't gamble with any of the players.
On calling up Curtis Jones and Tino Livramento…
Jack went down with a knock and with Harry uncertain as well we decided to bring two more players in. They can play a lot of positions because of their versatility.
Lee Carsley has confirmed that John Stones will captain the #ThreeLions for the very first time tomorrow ❤️🏴 pic.twitter.com/qWxmzAHI9w
— England (@England) October 9, 2024
Stones on captaining England…
It's everything I could have dreamed of as a kid. It's more for my family, I think, to be able to see me walk out as England captain is a special moment and one that I can't think Lee enough for. It was a great conversation and one I was a bit speechless in. It's an incredible moment for me. Everything resumes as normal now and our focus is the same but to be walking out with the armband is an honour.
On Cole Palmer…
I was a huge fan of Cole's as soon as he came into the Manchester City setup. How he played as if he was on the park, I was sad to see him leave. How he's conducted himself since and how he's stepped up in big moments is credit to him. What he's done for England, scoring in a final, he's experienced those big moments and hopefully there's more to come.
On the new-look setup under Carsley…
It's been seamless, which is credit to Lee and his team. We've had a great foundation that's been set for a few years and I know Lee in the background has been part of that. He's put his own style that he wants and it's been really good to work with. Now it's important we go and deliver for Lee and his staff. Tactically there have been changes and that happens under every new manager. They watch so much footage of us and he wants to make it easy for us to do the things we're good at.
On the young players in the squad…
In a short space of time, getting to know people has been really exciting. The likes of Noni [Madueke], Angel [Gomes], sitting down and getting to know them and clicking straight away. It's credit to them because it's not easy to come in when there are senior players here, it can be daunting, but I've been super impressed with everyone who's come in.
Greece in profile
Nickname: The Blues and Whites
Coach: Ivan Jovanovic
Captain: Tasos Bakasetas
FIFA World Cup best performance: Round of 16, 2014
UEFA EURO best performance: Winners 2004
Last encounter: England 4-0 Greece, World Cup qualifier, 16 August 2006, Old Trafford
Greece in profile
Captain: Tasos Bakasetas
UEFA EURO best performance: Winners 2004
Head to head
The Three Lions have played Greece at men's senior level on nine occasions, registering seven wins, drawing twice and losing none.
Last three meetings v Greece
England 4-0 Greece, International Match, 16 August 2006
A meeting at Old Trafford, where else, against Otto Rehhagel's reigning European Champions ended in a convincing win for new boss Steve McClaren in his first game in charge. Goals from John Terry, Frank Lampard and a brace from Peter Crouch proved the difference on the day.
England 2-2 Greece, World Cup qualifier, 6 October 2001
Who could forget David Beckham's unstoppable free-kick in the last minute to seal the result and England's place in the 2002 FIFA World Cup? Greece had taken the lead twice at Old Trafford, either side of Teddy Sheringham's goal, but it was captain Beckham who took the plaudits after an all-action display to help pull England over the line.
Greece 0-2 England, World Cup qualifier, 6 June 2001
Second-half goals from Paul Scholes and David Beckham proved the difference at the Olympic Stadium in Athens as England looked to cement their place in Japan and Korea for the 2002 World Cup
Match Stats
● England are unbeaten in all nine of their meetings with Greece across all competitions (W7 D2), keeping a clean sheet in seven of those matches.
● Greece have drawn their last two away competitive matches against England, most recently 2-2 in a World Cup qualifier in October 2001, leading twice before David Beckham scored a 90th minute free kick to send the Three Lions to the 2002 World Cup.
● England have won 16 of their last 21 competitive home matches across all competitions (D3 L2), including each of their last five. The Three Lions have kept six clean sheets in their last nine such fixtures.
● Since the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2018-19, no team has won more games in the competition than Greece (W13 D3 L4), who have conceded the fewest goals (eight) and kept the most clean sheets (14) of any nation in that period.
● Following back-to-back 2-0 wins over the Republic of Ireland and Finland, Lee Carsley will be aiming to be the first England manager to win his first three competitive matches in charge since Fabio Capello in October 2008 and the first ever to do so without conceding.
● Greece are winless in their last 12 matches against nations ranked inside the top five of the FIFA rankings (D6 L6), since a 1-0 win over France at EURO 2004 – their most recent such fixture ended 2-2 however, against France (ranked second) in November 2023.
● England captain Harry Kane has scored 26 goals in 26 competitive home appearances for the Three Lions, scoring on each of his last six such outings (nine goals) – only Steve Bloomer (1895-1899) and Wayne Rooney (2012-2015) have ever scored in seven straight competitive home games for the nation.
● Only Slovenia’s Benjamin Sesko (four) scored more goals than Greece’s Fotis Ioannidis (three) across the opening two matchdays of the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League, who has scored five goals across his last six international appearances overall.
● Carsley could become just the fifth manager to win each of his first three games in charge of England after Walter Winterbottom (first four), Glenn Hoddle (first three), Sven-Goran Eriksson (first five) and Steve McClaren (first three), while he could become the sixth manager not to concede a single goal in his first three games in charge of the Three Lions.
● This will be England’s 21st game overall in the UEFA Nations League (currently P20 W7 D6 L7), while they have the chance to win three successive matches in the competition for the first time, following wins against Ireland and Finland.
● England haven’t lost any of their last 17 competitive matches at Wembley (W13 D4) since a 0-1 loss to Denmark in this competition back in October 2020.
● The Three Lions have lost just two of their last 23 competitive matches overall (W14 D7), with those defeats coming against France at the quarter-final stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and against Spain in the final at EURO 2024.
● Greece have won each of their last three internationals, beating Malta (2-0), Finland (3-0) and Republic of Ireland (2-0). They last won four on the bounce in June 2022 keeping a clean sheet in all four matches (all in the UEFA Nations League).
● Greece have lost just one of their last 14 games in the UEFA Nations League (W10 D3), winning seven of their last eight in the competition (L1 – vs Cyprus in September 2022), including five of their last six away from home (L1).
● This will be England’s first meeting with Greece since a 4-0 Friendly win back in August 2006, 18 years & 55 days ago, and their first in a competitive fixture since October 2001 (a 2-2 draw in a World Cup qualifier).
● England remain unbeaten in all nine of their matches against Greece (W7 D2), only facing Bulgaria (12), Finland (12) and Türkiye (11) more often without suffering defeat.
● The Three Lions have won four of their six competitive matches against Greece (D2), keeping five clean sheets in the process.
● England have alternated between winning (three) and drawing (two) their five home matches against Greece, winning the most recent such fixture 4-0 at Old Trafford in August 2006.
● This will be the first meeting between England and Greece at Wembley stadium since a 5-0 win for the Three Lions in a Friendly back in May 1994. Indeed, England haven’t conceded a single goal in any of their three games against Greece at Wembley (W2 D1), scoring eight goals in the process.
● Greece will become the 46th different nation Harry Kane has faced, with England scoring against 31 of the previous 45 (more than any other player for the Three Lions). However, the Bayern Munich striker has scored just five goals in 20 appearances in the UEFA Nations League.
● Kane has had a hand in 28 goals in his last 28 appearances at Wembley Stadium for England (25 goals, three assists), netting 14 goals in his last 14 games at the ground.
● Declan Rice has had a hand in three goals across his last five internationals for England (one goal, two assists), as many goal involvements as in his first 55 caps.
From the archive: England 2-2 Greece
Watch back the best of the action from our 2001 encounter with Greece at Old Trafford
England Squad News
Ticket Information
Where can I watch or stream England v Greece?
UEFA Nations League games will be shown live in the UK on ITV and ITVX.
Vangelis Pavlidis struck twice to condemn England to a 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley.
Jude Bellingham’s late strike appeared to have earned a point for the Three Lions after Pavlidis opened the scoring early in the second half of the UEFA Nations League encounter.
But Greece responded at the death, with Pavlidis firing low beyond Jordan Pickford in added time to take all three points and go top of the group.
It took under three minutes for England to fashion a chance, as Bellingham turned on the edge of the box and forced a good save out of Odysseas Vlachodimos with a curling effort.
But Greece hit back almost immediately with a chance of their own on the counter attack with Pavlidis curling his shot wide of the post.
Bellingham was then involved again, this time on the end of a foul by Konstantinos Koulieras, but Cole Palmer’s resulting free-kick was just a touch too high.
Levi Colwill was then forced into evasive action at the other end in an action-packed opening 10 minutes, as the centre back did brilliantly to clear a long-range effort off the line after Pickford lost the ball outside the box.
That proved to encourage the visitors, who came into the match with two wins from their opening two UEFA Nations League matches, and captain Tasos Bakasetas saw his effort cleared by John Stones after finding space in the box.
Just a minute later and England too had their best sight of goal in the opening stages. Anthony Gordon’s threaded pass found Bellingham in behind, and he cut back to find Palmer but the 2023-24 Men’s Player of the Year could only fire over from close range.
Gordon then had a chance of his own as he broke into the box to meet Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross, but the winger’s header drifted wide of the target.
The sides went into the break level but Greece took the lead just four minutes after half-time, Vangelis Pavlidis weaving his way through a few tackles in the box before slotting past Pickford.
The visitors then nearly doubled their lead just a few minutes later, with Koulierakis’s dangerous header across goal cleared by Bellingham before Pickford palmed away a cross from Bakasetas.
Greece thought they had a second when Giorgos Masouras fired past Pickford only for the offside flag to deny them.
Substitute Ollie Watkins almost found the net immediately after coming on, but his shot was just over the bar after he was found by Palmer.
The next chance came 10 minutes later as England probed for a breakthrough, Bellingham getting in behind the Greek defence but his looped effort was wide.
Dominic Solanke then came close with a clever backheeled effort from a dangerous Alexander-Arnold cross but saw it smothered by the Greek defence.
With time running out, Pavlidis looked to have struck again to double Greece’s lead and all-but secure victory only for VAR to rule that he had strayed offside to tap home Christian Tzolis’ cross.
Instead, Bellingham scored to draw England level with just three minutes remaining with a curled finish beyond Vlachodimos after the ball fell to him on the edge of the box following sustained pressure from the Three Lions.
That seemed to have secured a point for England but Pavlidis struck again in added time to seal victory for Greece.
The Three Lions could not clear their lines and Pavlidis took full advantage to fire home from close range.
Defeat at Wembley Stadium. pic.twitter.com/5dMIYpY5ef
— England (@England) October 10, 2024
England: 1 Jordan Pickford (Everton), 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), 3 Rico Lewis (Manchester City), 4 Declan Rice (Arsenal), 5 John Stones (Manchester City), 7 Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), 8 Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), 10 Phil Foden (Manchester City), 11 Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), 15 Levi Colwill (Chelsea), 20 Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
Substitutes: 23 Noni Madueke (Chelsea) for Saka 52’, 18 Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) for Gordon 60’, 21 Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur) for Foden 72’
Subs not used: 13 Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), 22 Nick Pope (Newcastle United), 6 Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), 12 Kyle Walker (Manchester City), 14 Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), 16 Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), 17 Curtis Jones (Liverpool), 19 Angel Gomes (Lille)
Goals: Bellingham 87’
Yellow Cards: Saka 45’, Rice 53’
Coach: Lee Carsley
Greece: 1 Odysseas Vlachodimos, 3 Konstantinos Koulierakis, 4 Ntinos Mavropanos, 6 Dimitris Kourbelis, 7 Giorgos Masouras, 8 Christian Tzolis, 11 Tasos Bakasetas, 14 Vangelis Pavlidis, 15 Lazaros Rota, 22 Dimitris Giannoulis, 23 Manolis Siopis
Substitutes: 10 Dimitris Pelkas for Masouras 66’, 19 Christos Zafeiris for Siopis 66’, 20 Petros Mantalos for Kourbelis 74’, 18 Giannis Konstantelias for Tzolis 86’, 2 Giorgos Vagiannidis for Bakasetas 86’
Subs not used: 12 Kostas Tzolakis, 13 Christos Mandas, 5 Panagiotis Retsos, 9 Tasos Douvikas, 16 Tasos Chatzigiovanis, 17 Pantelis Hatzidiakos
Goals: Pavlidis 48’
Yellow Cards: Koulierakis 6’, Kourbelis 70’, Pavlidis 90’, Pelkas 90’
Coach: Ivan Jovanovic
