Nations League PIX: Inspired Greece stun England; France thrash Israel

Images from the Nations League football match played on Thursday.

Inspired Greece beat England for the first time

Greece beat England for the first time as striker Vangelis Pavlidis's double earned the visitors a richly-deserved 2-1 victory to put them in control of Nations League Group B2 at Wembley on Thursday.

While Pavlidis's winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time sparked wild celebrations amongst the Greek fans, England's were left stunned as stand-in manager Lee Carsley got a sobering reality check.

Two victories since Gareth Southgate stood down had raised Carsley's stock as a likely full-time replacement, but after a this ragged defeat, his hopes may have dwindled.

Pavlidis had given his side the lead early in the second half with a clinical finish and Greece had three goals ruled out against an England side that started with an experimental-looking attacking formation but misfired badly.

Jude Bellingham looked to have rescued his side when he lashed home an 87th-minute equaliser with England's second shot on target, but there was another twist as the outstanding Pavlidis punished some woeful defending to shoot past Jordan Pickford from close range.

Greece top the table with a maximum nine points while England's first defeat under Carsley left them second with six.

Carsley, who was without injured captain Harry Kane, stood by his decision to start without a recognised striker in a five-man attack, although he admitted it had failed.

"I think with the players we have, we have to be courageous with our systems and be creative," he told reporters. "It was my idea and I take the blame for that. It definitely didn't come off but we shouldn't rule out trying something different."

It was a poignant evening for Greece with a minute's silence held before kickoff for their former international George Baldock who died, aged 31, this week.

"It a very special day and match for us. Our thoughts are with George (Baldock). But we are professionals and had to play the match," Pavlidis said. "We gave our soul for him tonight. Today is not a day to talk about football."

After the often conservative nature of England's football under Southgate there was a buzz of anticipation around Wembley as Carsley, who has been put in charge for the Nations League games, picked in-form Cole Palmer.

The Chelsea player, who scored England's equaliser in the Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain as a substitute, started just behind force nine Bellingham and Phil Foden.

Bellingham stung Greek keeper Vlachodimos Odysseas's fingers with a ferocious dipping drive and Palmer blazed wastefully over the crossbar when well-placed.

But for all England's attacking potential, it was Greece who had the better first-half opportunities.

Pavlidis curled one effort wide before home keeper Pickford almost gifted Greece the lead, losing the ball on the edge of his area and having his blushes spared by a brilliant goal-line clearance by Levi Colwill.

Pickford then flapped at a high ball and Konstantinos Mavropanos headed into the net but was ruled offside.

England began the second half in lethargic fashion and Greece took the lead in the 49th minute as Pavlidis showed great footwork to dispatch a low shot past Pickford despite being hemmed in by England defenders.

Giorgos Masouras and Pavlidis then had goals ruled out by VAR and many England fans had already headed for home by the time Bellingham's shot beat Odyyseas Vlachodimos.

Greece were undaunted though and Pavlidis made sure of victory at the 10th attempt against England.

Nkunku scores as France thrash Israel

Christopher Nkunku celebrated his return to the France team with a goal in a 4-1 victory over Israel in the Nations League as Les Bleus edged closer to A2 Group leaders Italy on Thursday.

Nkunku's maiden goal for France, almost 10 months after his last cap, helped France to six points from three games, one behind Italy who were held to a 2-2 home draw by Belgium.

The Chelsea forward struck midway through the first half after Omri Gandelman had cancelled out Eduardo Camavinga's early opener before Matteo Guendouzi and Bradley Barcola sealed the win in the closing stages.

France were without regular captain Kylian Mbappe, who skipped the double header with Israel and Belgium, away on Monday, while fit to play with Real Madrid.

"It's always good to win. The atmosphere around the squad is not exactly pleasant," coach Didier Deschamps said, referring to the criticism Mbappe faced for missing the games and a poor performance against Italy last month.

"It's not perfect, we're in a transition period but there are some good things, with players who have qualities and now need to confirm," the coach added, four days before Les Bleus' trip to Brussels.

It was the first France game since forward Antoine Griezmann announced his retirement from international football last week.

Michael Olise started and was expected to fill the void, but the 22-year-old, despite some good moves and obvious technical qualities, showed his inexperience.

Camavinga opened the scoring after seven minutes with a curled low shot, benefiting from a handling error by Omri Glazer as France reaped the rewards of a good start.

Gandelman, however, headed home from Oscar Gloukh's long pass to equalise in the 24th minute.

It took Les Bleus four minutes to regain the advantage as Nkunku found the back of the net with a low shot after ghosting past two defenders.

Guendouzi wrapped up the win with a low shot from just outside the box and Barcola added another in the penultimate minute with a neat curling strike.

Israel have been playing their home matches in Hungary for security reasons amid the country's war in Gaza.

Italy squander two-goal lead in Belgium draw after red card

Italy were held to a 2-2 draw by Belgium on Thursday after Lorenzo Pellegrini was sent off and they squandered a 2-0 lead but remained top of Nations League A Group 2.

Italy lead the standing on seven points, one ahead of France who beat Israel 4-1 with Belgium third on four.

Italy scored in the first minute when winger Federico Di Marco fired a low cross into the box and Belgium keeper Koen Casteels saved the first shot from Andrea Cambiaso who bundled in the rebound.

Italy doubled the lead in the 24th minute when Di Marco volleyed the ball across the field to Cambiaso who was denied a second by Casteels before striker Mateo Retegui knocked in the loose ball.

Coach Luciano Spalletti's team were cruising until midfielder Pellegrini was sent off for hitting Belgium defender Arthur Theate at the end of the first half, following a VAR review.

The red card galvanised the Belgians and they immediately hit back through Maxim de Cuyper who halved the deficit with a curling shot from the edge of the box after a clever free kick routine.

"There are episodes that change the games," Spalletti said, referring to the red card.

Belgium started the second half strongly and equalised in the 61th minute when Leandro Trossard poked home from close range following a header by Wout Faes.

"Too bad, we did the first 40 minutes until the expulsion great," said Cambiaso.

Belgium, who faced Italy without injured captain Kevin De Bruyne and striker Romelu Lukaku, face a key clash with France on Monday, when Italy face Israel.

Theate said Belgium still had chances to finish in the top two and qualify for the Nations League quarter-finals.

"We should have won with 10 against 11, we didn't do it but we have a (key) game with France now," he said.

Haaland becomes Norway's top scorer in win over Slovenia

Norway striker Erling Haaland set another record on Thursday after he netted twice in a 3-0 Nations League win over Slovenia to become his country's leading international scorer with 34 goals.

Captaining the side in the absence of the injured Martin Odegaard, Haaland embraced the extra responsibility, but once again it was his goals that grabbed the headlines.

"Of course, it is big and historic. I'm happy, and it's a fantastic record to achieve ... I have many years left. I'm enjoying myself," Haaland told reporters.

The burly striker drilled home the opener in the seventh minute after Jan Oblak could only parry Antonio Nusa's stinging shot into his path to go level with Joergen Juve, the last of whose 33 international goals came against an Austrian amateur international side in 1934.

Haaland could have broken the record early in the second half but he flashed a header high over the bar, and fellow forward Alexander Sorloth made it 2-0 to Norway after Slovenia defender Vanja Drkusic's attempted clearance rolled into his path.

Known for his direct, powerful style, Haaland spent much of the early part of the second half trying to tee up his teammates, but in the 62nd minute Sorloth served him a perfect pass and he buried it with a trademark left-foot shot to move to the top of Norway's scoring charts.

Haaland's 34th goal came in his 36th international, nine fewer than Juve played in his career.

The 24-year-old Manchester City striker turned up all over the field, heading clearances in defence and orchestrating their attacks as Norway put in one of their most complete performances in years in front of their home crowd.

"It was a well executed match. I am proud. It is a record that has stood for a long time ... I felt good. It's been a long time since I've had this much energy on the field," Haaland said.

Norway, who have not qualified for the finals of a major tournament since Euro 2000, top League B Group 3 with seven points, three ahead of Austria and Slovenia, with Kazakhstan bottom on one point.

Stale Solbakken's side face a tough trip to face Austria on Sunday.

"Now we have a hard away game - even though we won at home, we must not build up our expectations too much, we must not hype ourselves up too much," Haaland said.