Greece have stunned England at Wembley 2-1, sealing an emotional late victory in honour of their compatriot defender George Baldock who died in a swimming pool accident earlier in the week.
The win was the first-ever for Greece over England and came two days after Baldock, 31, drowned in the pool at his Athens apartment.
Baldock, who was of Greek ancestry and was capped 12 times for the country, joined Panathinaikos in May from Sheffield United after the English side were relegated from the Premier League.
Vangelis Pavlidis scored a double for the visitors, his decisive winner coming in the 93rd minute after Jude Bellingham equalised six minutes earlier.
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The win was richly deserved and Pavlidis had another goal ruled out when he drifted offside from a cross – one of three disallowed Greek goals.
“It was a really special day for us because of George,” Pavlidis said. “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.”
Vangelis Pavlidis of Greece celebrates scoring. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
It was a sobering night for England’s caretaker manager Lee Carsley.
The interim manager opened his reign with promising victories against the Republic of Ireland and Finland, but his bold, attack-minded selection came unstuck under the Wembley arch.
Carsley played five attackers but no out-and-out striker without injured Harry Kane and the visitors capitalised on a disjointed display, with boos greeting the final whistle.
Greece’s first win against England came at the 10th attempt and was all the more impressive given the heartbreaking build-up to Thursday’s Group B2 encounter.
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The death of Buckingham-born Greece international Baldock at the age of 31 was announced on the eve of the game, with Wembley falling silent to remember the former Sheffield United full-back.
Pavlidis pointed to the black armband everyone wore after finding space to slam home an opener that had been coming against Carsley’s alarmingly incoherent side, whose focus on their attacking threat left them exposed at the back.
Carsley’s selection led to a chaotic, end-to-end encounter from the outset, with false nine Bellingham’s early shot followed moments later by overloaded England seeing Pavlidis bend wide.
It was a warning shot the Euro 2024 runners-up failed to heed as Greece grew in confidence, with Levi Colwill coming to the rescue shortly after Cole Palmer, making his first competitive start, struck a free-kick over.
Jordan Pickford cut out a long ball outside the box but panicked with Pavlidis breathing down his neck, passing to Tasos Bakasetas to have a shot that was heading in until the defender’s exceptional goal-line clearance.
England’s number one looked skittish and failed to punch away a header back across goal from the resulting corner, but Konstantinos Mavropanos was offside before he beat him to head home.
The hosts were off the pace and lacked shape, with skipper John Stones blocking captain Bakasetas’ strike after fine work down the left flank.
But England soon had a good chance of their own, with Bellingham turning brilliantly and then cutting back for Palmer to somehow blaze over.
Anthony Gordon headed over after being found by a fine Trent Alexander-Arnold pass before a flat end to the first half.
Carsley decided against changes and four minutes into the second half England’s poor performance was punished, with Pavlidis capitalising on meek, hesitant defending in the box to lash low past Pickford.
The striker immediately pointed to his black armband, which he then held aloft in front of the celebrating away support. The Greek team then ran to the touchline and raised a ‘Baldock 2’ shirt in his memory.
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka limped off to be replaced by Noni Madueke after a goal Greece quickly looked to add to, with Pickford just dealing with a fizzing cross.
England lacked balance and Greece celebrated another goal in the 59th minute, but Pavlidis had strayed offside before playing back for Giorgos Masouras to laser past Pickford.
Carsley brought on Ollie Watkins for Gordon to change the shape and dynamics, with the substitute nearly making an instant impact as he fizzed over after the ball was won high in the visitors’ half.
Offside Christos Tzolis lifted wide as England continued to wobble, with the VAR ruling out a second Greece goal for offside after Pavlidis scored at the near post.
England looked desperate as they sought a get-out-of-jail card, which Bellingham appeared to have played in the 87th minute when meeting a loose ball on the edge of the box with a thumping leveller.
But Greece never gave up and in stoppage time Pavlidis kept his cool in a penalty box melee to swivel and strike.
“We can talk about England but you have to give that Greece team credit,” said former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson. “It’s an unbelievable result for them tonight. You thought Jude Bellingham spared England’s blushes, but they didn’t go away.”
Meanwhile Erling Haaland has marked his first game as Norway captain by becoming his country’s all-time leading goal scorer.
The Manchester City striker went into the Nations League clash against Slovenia in Oslo on Thursday night (Friday AEDT) only one behind Jorgen Juve, who scored his 33 goals nearly a century ago.
It took Haaland only seven minutes to equal the mark, the 24-year-old converting a rebound in emphatic fashion.
And in the 62nd minute he tucked a side-footed effort into the bottom corner for his 34th international goal to hold the record outright.
Haaland, who recently reached the 100-goal mark for City in only 105 appearances, has been just as prolific for his country as his club, with his historic feat coming in just 36 matches.
He made his Norway debut in September 2019 against Malta, scoring his first goal the following year against Austria.
Haaland has scored three hat-tricks for his country – against Romania, Gibraltar and Kosovo.
His double against Slovenia helped Norway to a 3-0 victory.
Italy squandered a 2-0 lead at home to Belgium.
The Azzurri, who entered the match atop their group after victories over France and Israel, started strongly with Andrea Cambiaso opening the coring in the first minute.
Mateo Retegui doubled Italy’s lead in the 24th minute but the game turned when Lorenzo Pellegrini received a straight red card after a VAR review for a dangerous tackle on Arthur Theate.
The Red Devils’ Maxim De Cuyper curled home a superb free-kick just two minutes after Pellegrini’s dismissal to halve the deficit and Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard claimed the equaliser.
(With Agencies)