UEFA Nations League Matchday 3 Thursday round-up: Greece stun England, France win, Italy held

Greece earned an historic triumph away against England to maintain their 100% record in the current edition of the UEFA Nations League, while Italy's lead at the Group A2 summit narrowed after they were held by Belgium and France overcame Israel.

UEFA.com rounds up the Thursday night action.

Italy 2-2 Belgium

Lorenzo Pellegrini's red card was a turning point as Belgium came from two goals down to draw in Rome. The hosts had a brilliant start, scoring after 59 seconds through Andrea Cambiaso, before adding a second as Mateo Retegui rolled in when Koen Casteels failed to hold.

But after the Azzurri were reduced to ten players, Belgium pulled one back almost straight away when Maxim De Cuyper bent in. Then, just after the hour mark, the visitors claimed a point as Leandro Trossard poked in a clever volley from a Wout Faes header.

Israel 1-4 France

France closed the gap on Italy in Group A2 thanks to a resounding victory. In the absence of Kylian Mbappé, it was Aurélien Tchouaméni who captained Les Bleus. However, it was his midfield partner, Eduardo Camavinga, who opened the scoring after only seven minutes as Israel goalkeeper Omri Glazer failed to keep out his effort.

Omri Gandelman levelled with a header but parity was short-lived with Christopher Nkunku quickly scoring his first goal for France from close range. Late strikes from Mattéo Guendouzi and Bradley Barcola then added a certain sheen to the result for Didier Deschamps' side.

England 1-2 Greece

Ivan Jovanović's side seized control of the section and recorded a first-ever victory over England thanks to two second-half goals, including an added-time winner, by Vangelis Pavlidis.

Tasos Bakasetas was denied by a spectacular goal-line clearance from Levi Colwill in a first half during which Cole Palmer could have given England the lead. The visitors made the breakthrough shortly after half-time though as Pavlidis broke through the England defence before planting his finish under Jordan Pickford. Jude Bellingham thumped in a late equaliser for the Three Lions but there was still time for Pavlidis to have the final say in the 94th minute.

Best of the rest

• Erling Haaland struck his 34th international goal in just 36 matches to become Norway's all-time leading goalscorer
• Robbie Brady's 88th-minute winner gave Republic of Ireland their first points in Group B2 while Finland stay point-less
• Eljif Elmas put the seal on a commanding win for North Macedonia in Latvia that took them three points clear in Group C4.

All Thursday's results

A2 Italy 2-2 Belgium, Israel 1-4 France
B2 England 1-2 Greece, Finland 1-2 Republic of Ireland
B3 Austria 4-0 Kazakhstan, Norway 3-0 Slovenia
C4 Faroe Islands 2-2 Armenia, Latvia 0-3 North Macedonia
D1 Gibraltar 1-0 San Marino
D2 Moldova 2-0 Andorra

Friday's fixtures

A3 Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Germany, Hungary vs Netherlands
B1 Czechia vs Albania, Ukraine vs Georgia
B4 Iceland vs Wales, Türkiye vs Montenegro
C1 Estonia vs Azerbaijan (18:00), Slovakia vs Sweden

Saturday's fixtures

A1 Croatia vs Scotland (18:00), Poland vs Portugal
A4 Serbia vs Switzerland, Spain vs Denmark
C2 Lithuania vs Kosovo (15:00), Cyprus vs Romania
C3 Bulgaria vs Luxembourg (18:00), Belarus vs Northern Ireland

All kick-offs 20:45 CET unless stated.