Greece secured a 3-2 victory over Scotland in their 2026 World Cup qualifying match in Group C on November 15, 2025. Despite a late comeback, Scotland remains in contention for automatic qualification after Denmark's draw with Belarus. The result sets up a decisive clash between Scotland and Denmark at Hampden Park.
The match in Piraeus kicked off at 19:45 GMT, with Greece taking an early lead in the seventh minute through Anastasios Bakasetas, who lashed home after Craig Gordon saved a shot from Vangelis Pavlidis. Greece dominated the first half, with Gordon making key saves to deny Christos Tzolis and Panagiotis Retsos. Pavlidis missed a clear chance and later left due to injury.
Scotland improved late in the first half, as Scott McTominay hit the crossbar with a curling effort and set up opportunities for Che Adams and Ben Gannon-Doak. Eight minutes into the second half, Ryan Christie and Adams combined but failed to equalize, allowing Greece to extend their lead with strikes from Konstantinos Karetsas and Tzolis.
Scotland mounted a comeback, with Gannon-Doak scoring his first international goal from John McGinn's cross, followed by Christie's header from Andrew Robertson's delivery. Bakasetas received a second yellow card for elbowing Lewis Ferguson, reducing Greece to 10 men. However, Odysseas Vlachodimos denied McTominay with a stunning leg save, preserving the win.
The result keeps Scotland level on points with Denmark, who drew 1-1 with Belarus after trailing. Scotland's next match against Denmark on Tuesday will determine automatic qualification. As John McGinn noted beforehand, 'We've given ourselves a chance to qualify directly and we're going to give it absolutely everything.'
Greece's starting XI included Vlachodimos, Vagiannidis, Retsos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas, Kourbelis, Mouzakitis, Karetsas, Bakasetas, Tzolis, and Pavlidis. Scotland fielded Gordon, Hickey, Hanley, Souttar, Robertson, Ferguson, Christie, McGinn, McTominay, Gannon-Doak, and Adams.