England: October International Break Preview.

Lee Carsley’s Three Lions will take on Greece and Finland in the UEFA Nations League over the course of the October international break this week.

The 2024/25 domestic football season has been paused, with the latest set of international fixtures set to take place over the next week as part of the UEFA Nations League. Lee Carsley and his England side will be taking on Greece and Finland in this competition as they look to leapfrog the former into top spot in their group.

So far, the Three Lions have played two matches in their Nations League campaign to date. The first was against the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin back on 7th September. In the end, it was a comfortable 2 – 0 victory for England who found the back of the net thanks to goals from Declan Rice (11’) and Jack Grealish (26’).

Then came their most recent UEFA Nations League outing, which took place at the iconic Wembley Stadium on 10th September against Finland. This was another 2 – 0 victory for Carsley’s side who found the net through a brace from the nation’s all-time leading goal scorer Harry Kane in the second half (57’, 76’).

In their latest round of fixtures in the competition, they will first take on Ivan Jovanovic’s Greece at Wembley on Thursday 10th October in a 19:45 kick-off. The Three Lions will then travel to the Finnish Capital of Helsinki to face Finland at the 36,251 capacity Helsinki Olympic Stadium on Sunday 13th October in a 17:00 kick-off.

As of the time of writing, England currently sits second with 6 points, whilst Greece are top of the group with the same points but with a slightly superior goal difference of 5 compared to 4 for England. Finland are in fourth, with the Republic of Ireland in third on goal difference – both sides have 0 points to their name.

England vs. Greece:

England take on Greece under the arch at Wembley on Thursday evening in the third match of their Nations League campaign. Victory for the Three Lions would certainly see them leapfrog their opponents to the top of their Nations League Group. Lee Carsley’s side will be confident after winning the first two games of this season’s competition.

The most recent game between these two nations was a friendly between the two nations on 16th August 2006. It was a 4 – 0 victory for England at Old Trafford, with John Terry (14’), Frank Lampard (30’), and Peter Crouch (35’, 42’) all finding the back of the net.

England famously faced Greece under the stewardship of Sven-Goran Eriksson in a crucial play-off match to reach the 2002 World Cup. Eriksson’s side conceded a goal from Angelos Charisteas to give the Greeks the lead (36’) before Teddy Sheringham restored parity midway through the second half to make it 1 – 1 (68’).

Demis Nikolaidis did restore Greece’s lead just moments later, and with that England were no longer set to qualify for the World Cup. However, to the relief of all England fans, David Beckham scored that famous free-kick to send his nation through in second half stoppage time (90+3’).

You can re-live that iconic free-kick from David Beckham from this famous game at Old Trafford below (Source: England):

Finland vs. England:

England’s fourth Nations League game, and their final of the October International break will see them face Finland in the country’s capital Helsinki at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on Sunday evening.

If England makes it two wins from two in this game, they will be certain of top spot in the group. If they fail to win one of these matches, whether they are in top spot once the international break is over will of course rely on results elsewhere.

These two nations first met in a friendly game all the way back on 20th May 1937. It was played in Finland, and it was an incredible 8 – 0 victory for England, who found the back of the net that day through Alfred Kirchen (6’), Joe Payne (27’, 56’), Freddie Steele (36’, 52’), Joseph Johnson (44’), Ken Willingham (75’), and Jackie Robinson (87’).

Overall, England and Finland have met 12 times in international fixtures to date over the years, and the Three Lions currently have 10 wins from these matches, with these teams having drawn against each other just twice to date.

The most recent match between the two nations was that aforementioned UEFA Nations League Fixture at Wembley on 10th September, where Harry Kane scored a brace in a 2 – 0 victory in the English Capital. You can watch the highlights of this game below (Source: ITV Sport):

Other Nations League Fixtures taking place this week:

• Moldova vs. Andorra (League D, Group D2) – Thursday 10th October 2024, 17:00 KO.
• Latvia vs. North Macedonia (League C, Group C4) – Thursday 10th October 2024, 17:00 KO.
• Austria vs. Kazakhstan (League B, Group B3) – Thursday 10th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Israel vs. France (League A, Group A2) – Thursday 10th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Finland vs. Republic of Ireland (League B, Group B2) – Thursday 10th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Norway vs. Slovenia (League B, Group B3) – Thursday 10th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Gibraltar vs. San Marino (League D, Group D1) – Thursday 10th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Faroe Islands vs. Armenia (League C, Group C4) – Thursday 10th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Italy vs. Belgium (League A, Group A2) – Thursday 10th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Estonia vs. Azerbaijan (League C, Group C1) – Friday 11th October 2024, 17:00 KO.
• Ukraine vs. Georgia (League B, Group B1) – Friday 11th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Hungary vs. Netherlands (League A, Group A3) – Friday 11th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Germany (League A, Group A3) – Friday 11th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Turkey vs. Montenegro (League B, Group B4) – Friday 11th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Czech Republic vs. Albania (League B, Group B1) – Friday 11th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Slovakia vs. Sweden (League C, Group C1) – Friday 11th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Iceland vs. Wales (League B, Group B4) – Friday 11th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Lithuania vs. Kosovo (League C, Group C2) – Saturday 12th October 2024, 14:00 KO.
• Croatia vs. Scotland (League A, Group A1) – Saturday 12th October 2024, 17:00 KO.
• Bulgaria vs. Luxembourg (League C, Group C3) – Saturday 12th October 2024, 17:00 KO.
• Poland vs. Portugal (League A, Group A1) – Saturday 12th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Spain vs. Denmark (League A, Group A4) – Saturday 12th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Belarus vs. Northern Ireland (League C, Group C3) – Saturday 12th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Cyprus vs. Romania (League C, Group C2) – Saturday 12th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Serbia vs. Switzerland (League A, Group A4) – Saturday 12th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Kazakhstan vs. Slovenia (League B, Group B3) – Sunday 13th October 2024, 14:00 KO.
• Malta vs. Moldova (League D, Group D2) – Sunday 13th October 2024, 17:00 KO.
• Liechtenstein vs. Gibraltar (League D, Group D1) – Sunday 13th October 2024, 17:00 KO.
• Armenia vs. North Macedonia (League C, Group C4) – Sunday 13th October 2024, 17:00 KO.
• Faroe Islands vs. Latvia (League C, Group C4) – Sunday 13th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Austria vs. Norway (League B, Group B3) – Sunday 13th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Greece vs. Republic of Ireland (League B, Group B2) – Sunday 13th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Azerbaijan vs. Slovakia (League C, Group C1) – Monday 14th October 2024, 17:00 KO.
• Georgia vs. Albania (League B, Group B1) – Monday 14th October 2024, 17:00 KO.
• Ukraine vs. Czech Republic (League B, Group B1) – Monday 14th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Italy vs. Israel (League A, Group A2) – Monday 14th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Iceland vs. Turkey (League B, Group B4) – Monday 14th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Belgium vs. France (League A, Group A2) – Monday 14th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Germany vs. Netherlands (League A, Group A3) – Monday 14th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Estonia vs. Sweden (League C, Group C1) – Monday 14th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Wales vs. Montenegro (League B, Group B4) – Monday 14th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (League A, Group A3) – Monday 14th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Lithuania vs. Romania (League C, Group C2) – Tuesday 15th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Northern Ireland vs. Bulgaria (League C, Group C3) – Tuesday 15th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Spain vs. Serbia (League A, Group A4) – Tuesday 15th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Poland vs. Croatia (League A, Group A1) – Tuesday 15th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Switzerland vs. Denmark (League A, Group A4) – Tuesday 15th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Kosovo vs. Cyprus (League C, Group C2) – Tuesday 15th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Belarus vs. Luxembourg (League C, Group C3) – Tuesday 15th October 2024, 19:45 KO.
• Scotland vs. Portugal (League A, Group A1) – Tuesday 15th October 2024, 19:45 KO.

There should be plenty of enthralling international matches throughout the October international break, with Lee Carsley and his England team looking to top their Nations League group by the time the latest international break of the season has come to an end.

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