Greece 3-2 Scotland: Report, result, goals as Clarke’s men lose thriller but stay alive in 2026 World Cup qualifying
Read a report from Greece vs Scotland in World Cup qualifying
Scotland are still in with a chance of qualifying automatically for the 2026 World Cup despite losing 3-2 to Greece in a thriller in Group C.
Anastasios Bakasetas’ seventh-minute strike gave Greece a deserved opener, and second-half strikes from Konstantinos Karetsas and Christos Tzolis looked to have condemned Scotland to the play-offs.
Scotland, though, fought back in a remarkable second half, Ben Gannon-Doak and Ryan Christie teeing up a grandstand finish, with the tension heightened by a red card for Bakasetas and developments in Copenhagen.
With Scotland losing, a win for Denmark against Belarus would have essentially clinched their place in the finals in North America.
But Belarus came from behind to lead 2-1 and, though Denmark found an equaliser while Scotland failed to do so, the combination of results still leaves Scotland with the chance to clinch a place in the finals for the first time since 1998 on Tuesday.
Scotland will host Denmark at Hampden Park in a winner-take-all match, though they will need to drastically improve defensively if they are to pull off an historic upset.
Bakasetas lashed home the opener for Greece after Craig Gordon had made an excellent save to deny Vangelis Pavlidis.
Greece continued to pepper the Scotland goal thereafter, with Gordon producing a pair of fine saves to deny Tzolis and also pulling off a brilliant low stop to keep out a near-postPanagiotis Retsos header.
Vangelis Pavlidis then turned wide with the goal seemingly at his mercy, with the Benfica striker then forced off through injury.
But Scotland grew into proceedings at the end of the first half, with Scott McTominay predictably to the fore.
The Napoli star clattered the crossbar with a curling long-range effort, before Che Adams and Ben Gannon-Doak each spurned chances teed up by McTominay.
Christie and Adams combined to let slip a golden opportunity to level eight minutes into the second half, and Scotland were punished as Karetsas’ whipped finish and a long-range effort from Tzolis that Gordon should have saved looked to have ended the game as a contest.
But Gannon-Doak turned home his first Scotland goal from John McGinn’s low cross and Christie headed home an Andrew Robertson delivery to reignite belief that grew further as news of developments in Denmark filtered through.
Bakasetas was sent off as he received a soft second yellow for elbowing Lewis Ferguson in the stomach, but Scotland failed to take advantage, with Odysseas Vlachodimos producing a stunning save with his legs to keep out a McTominay header with his leg.
Vlachodimos was not seriously tested following that chance, but Belarus’ resolve in hanging on in Copenhagen means Scotland can still end qualifying with an historic achievement.
Table of Contents
Greece team vs Scotland
Greece starting XI: Vlachodimos, Vagiannidis, Retsos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas, Kourbelis, Mouzakitis, Karetsas, Bakasetas, Tzolis, Pavlidis.
Greece substitutes: Tzolakis, Mandas, Michailidis, Masouras, Kostoulas, Rota, Triantis, Hatzidiakos, Tetteh, Mantalos, Siopis.
Scotland team vs Greece
Scotland starting XI: Gordon, Hickey, Hanley, Souttar, Robertson, Ferguson, Christie, McGinn, McTominay, Gannon-Doak, Adams.
Scotland substitutes: Kelly, Bain, Tierney, Irving, Dykes, Hendry, Barron, McKenna, Hirst, Shankland, Ralston, McLean.
2026 World Cup playoffs dates
The top team from each of the 12 European Qualifier groups proceeds automatically to the finals, which will be expanded to 48 teams.
The 12 runners-up in each group will join four Nations League teams in the two-legged play-off ties, which will be drawn from pots based on teams’ records during the campaign and take place on March 26 and 31 2026.
When is the draw for the 2026 World Cup finals?
The draw for the World Cup finals will take place on December 5 2025 at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, with the ceremony starting at 17:00 GMT (12:00 ET/ 09:00 PT).
The tournament runs from June 11 until July 19 2026.