England shocked by big French victory; Italy and Belgium play out a thriller

The third round of the UEFA Nations League started on Thursday with several interesting matches, including the main clash between Italy and Belgium in the Eternal City.

Here's what happened.

England 1-2 Greece

Shooters: Bellinghama 88′; Pawlidis 49′, 90+4′

England interim coach Lee Carlsey masterminded a shock home defeat to Greece at Wembley Stadium this evening, with the visitors claiming their first ever win over the Three Lions in ten tries.

Jude Bellingham came close to opening the scoring in the third minute of action after his powerful shot from 25 yards forced Newcastle United's Odisseas Vlachodimos into a top-class save.

Jordan Pickford almost gave Greece a shock lead with a shot from just outside the penalty area, but Chelsea's Levi Colwill came flying off the line after Anastasios Bakasetas tried to pin down the Everton goalkeeper.

Greece officially took a surprising lead early in the second half through Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis after the big striker tiptoed through the England defense in the box before slotting past Pickford.

Changes before the 60th minute included Noni Madueke coming on for Bukayo Saka (injury) and Watkins replacing Anthony Gordon (tactical), with Watkins firing over the crossbar from the penalty area just seconds after being introduced.

England thought they would be spared a shock defeat at home in the dying minutes of normal time after a Bellingham rocket from outside the box beat Vlachodimos, but Pavlidis appeared in the box and restored Greece's lead in stoppage time.

Looking at Group B2, Greece remains excellent with three wins out of three, while England are second.

Italy 2-2 Belgium

Shooters: Cambiaso 1′, Retegui 24′; De Cuypera 42′, Trossarda 62′. Red: Pellegrini 40′

Italy struggled to take a two-goal lead against Belgium after a tasty 2-2 draw in the capital.

Gli Azzurri got a flyer in front of the home fans against Belgium when Andrea Cambiaso scored his first goal for Italy with his first shot on target after 17 successful passes.

Mateo Retegui doubled his lead in the first 25 minutes of action when Cambiaso's shot deflected in by Koen Casteels and found the net from close range.

Domenico Tedesco's De Rode Duivels returned to the pitch after Maxim De Cuyper had halved the deficit with a long-range shot after Lorenzo Pellegrini had been given his marching orders following a red card.

Arsenal's Leandro Trossard brought Belgium level seventeen minutes after the restart with a typically close-range strike after Wout Faes headed the ball home and found the midfielder free to move at the back post.

Thanks to this result, Italy remains at the top of Group A2, 1 point ahead of France.

Israel 1-4 France

Shooters: Gandelman 24′; Camavinga 7′, Nkunku 28′, Guendouzi 87′, Barcola 89′

Les Bleus had to earn all three points on the road after Didier Deschamps' men claimed a 4-1 victory in Israel.

Real Madrid star Eduardo Camavinga gave the French visitors a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute after a fluke by Israeli stopper Omri Glazer.

The hosts shockingly equalized seventeen minutes later through Omri Gandelman after a beautiful ball over the head of Oscar Gloukh found the KAA Gent player who passed Mike Maignan.

Thanks to Gandelman's goal, it was nine straight games in which Israel found the net in front of the home fans.

France regained a one-goal advantage four minutes later thanks to Christopher Nkunku's first international goal, and despite the draw, one-way traffic continued.

Substitute Mattéo Guendouzi finished the game just three minutes from time with a powerful shot from the top of the penalty area, and the fourth goal came two minutes later through Bradley Barcola.

Finland 1-2 Ireland

Shooters: Bottom fire 18′; Scales 58′, Brady 89′

The Republic of Ireland condemned hosts Finland to three defeats in three Nations League matches after winning 2-1 in Helsinki.

Venezia's Joel Pohjanpalo had the Finns off balance in the first 20 minutes of action before a header from Celtic center back Liam Scales brought Ireland back on track after the break.

Preston North End defender Robert Brady gave Ireland all the points on the night with just a minute remaining in normal time when he slotted past Lukas Hradecky.

This result means Ireland have gained their first Nations League points this cycle, while Finland is in last place in Group B2.

Other results