England facing fixtures nightmare as shock Greece loss could have knock on effect for World Cup 2026 qualifiers
ENGLAND could be forced to feature in a Nations League play-off in March.
And that would mean the Three Lions’ World Cup qualifiers wouldn’t start until June.
The draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers will be staged in Zurich in December.
If England finish top of the League B group, they are set to begin their campaign for the World Cup in March.
But if England fail to automatically qualify, they’ll be forced to play a Nations League play-off in March instead.
If Lee Carsley’s men finish second in the Nations League — and the 2-1 loss to Greece means this is possible — they will have a promotion play-off against a third-placed League A side.
Greece sit three points above England at the top of the group.
The Three Lions are set to be in a five-team World Cup group so their eight qualifying games could be pushed back.
Interim head boss Carsley was given one main challenge when accepting his current role with England – to help the Three Lions earn promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League.
But after the Greece defeat, Carsley all but confirmed that he doesn’t want the permanent job anyway.
The damning stats that underline England horror show
- Greece were the lowest ranked side to beat England in a competitive match in 19 years (since Northern Ireland ranked 116th in September 2005.
- The away side were the lowest ranked side to ever beat England on home soil.
- It was the first time Greece had never beaten England in their history (10 attempts).
- Greece had never scored a goal at Wembley before tonight (the famous 2-2 with Becks free kick was at Old Trafford)
- Vangelis Pavlidis’ strikes were his first since June 2022 vs Cyprus.
- Jude Bellingham’s 87th-minute equaliser was England’s first shot on target since the third minute (also Bellingham).
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Countries that win their Nations League group could earn a place in the qualifying play-offs for the 2026 World Cup, should they fail to qualify for the competition by normal means.
But Carsley might have failed his audition after fielding an England team with NO recognised No.9 for the first time in the modern era.
What’s more, he admitted that they’d only worked on his rogue striker-less formation for 20 MINUTES in training.
And the defeat could’ve been by four or five more – with the Greeks having THREE goals disallowed in their first ever win at Wembley.
England can’t really afford more failed experiments like Carsley’s against Greece with a Pot 1 World Cup 2026 qualifying spot almost certain.
England’s 12 shots only added up to 0.86 expected goals (xG), with Bellingham’s 87th-minute equaliser their only shot on target in the second half.
Should Carsley win all three of his remaining group matches, taking place on Sunday and in another double header next month, England would be guaranteed promotion, should Greece drop points against either the Republic of Ireland or Finland.
Next up for the Three Lions is a meeting with Finland, who sit bottom of Group B2 after three games.
But England swallowed plenty of chances against Finland last month -before Harry Kane‘s late double saw them win 2-0 at Wembley.
Reports in Germany on Friday evening suggested the England are in talks with Thomas Tuchel over a permanent job as Three Lions boss.
England player ratings vs Greece
By Tom Barclay
LEE CARSLEY’S tactical experiment of playing no strikers backfired as Vangelis Pavlidis’ double secured an emotional shock win for Greece at Wembley.
Interim England boss Carsley played all three of our nation’s gifted No10s – Phil Foden, Jue Bellingham and Cole Palmer – in varying positions.
But it did not work and the Greeks took a deserved lead thanks to Pavlidis’ belting second-half finish.
The visitors then held up a shirt in celebration bearing the name Baldock – in reference to their team-mate George Baldock, whose passing at the age of just 31 on Wednesday rocked the world of football.
Bellingham looked to have ensured the points were shared with a thunderous strike with three minutes to go.
But there was still time for Pavlidis to expose some woeful defending deep into injury time by firing past Jordan Pickford.
Here are SunSport’s player ratings from a dire night for England under the arch.
Jordan Pickford: 4
Wandered into no-man’s-land territory outside his box early on and lost the ball, allowing Greek skipper Tasos Baksetas a free shot at goal – only to be saved by Levi Colwill’s last-gasp clearance. Did not instil confidence, despite his experience.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 6
Some tasty passes – they are his speciality, after all – but not great at the back. He, John Stones and Cole Palmer were weak in their attempt to close down Vangelis Pavlidis before the Benfica man smashed home the opener.
John Stones: 5
Made captain for what was his 82nd cap, surpassing Rio Ferdinand’s haul. But it was a shaky display from his defence and Stones should have done better to stop Pavlidis.
Levi Colwill: 7
Greece would have been ahead far sooner were it not for Colwill’s athletic hack away to deny Bakasetas. Replays showed it would have crossed the line had the Chelsea man been a split second later with his incredible intervention.
Rico Lewis: 6
Tried to bomb up the left flank where he could but, just like Kieran Trippier at the Euros, was hamstrung by constantly having to cut back onto his favoured right foot.
Declan Rice: 6
Played as England’s only holding midfielder, as fans had been imploring Gareth Southgate to use him for years. It was not like he was overrun but his side did look vulnerable on the counter.
Phil Foden: 4
Spent most of the game pressing the Greek backline as a false nine without really getting on the ball and causing any damage. Ineffective.
Cole Palmer: 6
Deployed in a deeper, central-midfield role which at least meant he saw plenty of the ball, though he blazed England’s best chance of the first half over the bar. Remarkably, his first competitive England start, despite being named on Tuesday as Three Lions player of the 2023-24 season.
Bukayo Saka: 5
Struggled to get into the game and then was forced out of it, worryingly limping off early in the second half. The last thing Arsenal fans wanted to see.
Jude Bellingham: 7 STAR MAN
Played in a false nine position and had a belting early shot well saved. The system did not work but Bellingham still so nearly emerged as the saviour by banging in his first goal of the season for club and country.
Anthony Gordon: 5
Caused Greece few problems and his touch looked off it. Had a decent chance from Alexander-Arnold’s peach of a delivery but headed over.
SUBS:
Noni Madueke (for Saka 52): Played out on the left, rather than his natural right, when coming on. Went down in the box deep into injury time but no penalty was given. 6
Ollie Watkins (for Gordon 60): Almost scored with his first touch when played through by Palmer, but smashed just over. 7
Dominic Solanke (for Foden 72): Grabbed an assist when laying the ball back to Bellingham who thumped in the leveller. 7
Manager Lee Carsley: 4
Seemed to gamble unnecessarily with this experimental system instead of playing it safe to add another win to boost his case to earn the job full-time. Carsley played without a natural centre-forward when winning the Under-21 Euros because he had to after Flo Balogun switched the USA and Rhian Brewster got injured, but here he did it by choice and it did not work. Bellingham looked to have saved his bacon – but then Pavlidis struck again.