Vangelis Pavlidis’ brace saw Greece stun England 2-1 at Wembley Stadium in 2024-25 UEFA Nations League.
Pavlidis rifled a 94th minute winner into the left corner after he pounced on sloppy defending, as Greece clinched a first away win over the Three Lions just under 24 hours since the death of teammate – George Baldock was announced.
The Greek initially fired the visitors ahead from a 49th-minute strike after he met Dinos Koulierakis’ pass, before Jude Bellingham pulled England level with a 87th minute strike.
Speaking post-match to ITV, Pavlidis dedicated the win to Baldock and added that his death motivated the team in North London.
“It was a really special day for us because of George. We are people and it’s a special night because of him.
“[We have thought about him] a lot since we heard it yesterday. A difficult moment for us because George was part of the team. Special guy. We have to play for him and it doesn’t matter the score today. We gave everything for him.”
Greece now remain top of League B2 and three points clear of England who remain second in the group.
Without a recognised centre forward due to Harry Kane’s failure to recover from a leg injury, England’s interim manager – Lee Carsley opted for an experimental 4-2-2-2 formation with no central forward up front.
That bold gamble almost paid off just three minutes into the match, as Bellingham’s curled shot was punched over the bar by Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Greece cleared the subsequent corner and broke forward but Pavlidis fired wide.
Dinos Koulierakis however conceded a free-kick with a sixth-minute reckless lunge on Bellingham, yet Cole Palmer curled the set-piece over the bar just outside of Greece’s box.
England’s defensive high-line however was given a huge scare as Jordan Pickford came out and hit his pass towards a Greek player, who casually took aim at the empty net only for Levi Colwill to flick the shot wide just off the line.
West Ham defender, Dinos Mavropanos then nodded Greece ahead from the consequential corner, only for his third international goal to be swiftly disallowed due to him being offside.
Greece produced another scare as a 21st minute counter-attack ended with a cutback to Anastasios Bakasetas, with his shot blocked by John Stones – who was England’s captain for the game due to Kane’s absence.
England almost punished Greece’s wasteful finishing a minute later with a fast-paced move up the left, which saw Anthony Gordon feed Bellingham a pass into the box that was laid off for Palmer who lashed his shot over the bar.
Greece eventually dug deep to keep England at bay into half-time, which continued early in the second half.
That defensive resilience was rewarded in the 49th minute as Koulierakis fed Pavlidis a pass into the box, which the 25 year-old shifted between his feet and unleashed a powerful shot to put Greece ahead.
Pavlidis’ effort also marked Greece’s first goal at Wembley after they failed to score in three previous visits to the National Stadium.
Pavlidis almost turned provider as Greece chased a second goal ten minutes later with a square ball to Georgios Masouras, but Masouras’ effort was disallowed for offside.
Carsley swiftly made a tactical change as Watkins came on for Gordon, and the team shuffled into a more conventional formation which saw Watkins rifle over with his second touch.
Greece though looked well-organised and cohesive which paid dividends as Christos Tzolis teed up Pavlidis with a 83d minute pass, which the latter calmly swept into the net only for VAR to deem Tzolis’ assist offside.
That reprieve soon spared England’s blushes four minutes later as Watkins pulled the ball back for substitute, Dominic Solanke whose touch allowed Bellingham to rifle in and restore parity.
Greece ultimately had the last word in the fourth minute of injury-time as Pavlidis pounced upon a mix-up between Colwill and Rico Lewis, which left him free to smash in the winning goal to send the Greek fans wild in celebrations.
What’s Next?
England head to Helsinki to face Finland on Sunday 13 October at 5pm UK Time, live on ITV1 in the UK.
Greece meanwhile host Republic of Ireland at home in Piraeus, in a 7:45pm kick-off UK Time.
Teams
England: Jordan Pickford, Trent Alexander-Arnold, John Stones, Levi Colwill, Rico Lewis, Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden (Solanke 72′), Bukayo Saka (Madueke 51′), Anthony Gordon (Watkins 60′)
Substitutes: Angel Gomes, Connor Gallagher, Marc Guehi, Dean Henderson, Curtis Jones, Tino Livramento, Noni Madueke, Nick Pope, Dominic Solanke, Kyle Walker, Ollie Watkins
Greece: Odysseas Vlachodimos, Dimitris Giannoulis, Dinos Koulierakis, Dinos Mavropanos, Lazaros Rota, Dimitrios Kourbelis (Mantalos 74′), Manolis Siopis (Zafeiris 66′), Christos Tzolis (Konstantelias 85′), Anastasios Bakasetas (Vagiannidis 86′), Georgios Masouras (Pelkas 66′), Vangelis Pavlidis
Substitutes: Tasos Chatzigiovanis, Tasos Douvikas, Pantelis Hatzidiakos, Giannis Konstantelias, Christos Mandas, Petros Mantalos, Dimitris Pelkas, Panos Retsos, Konstantis Tzolakis, Georgios Vagiannidis, Christos Zafeiris
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