Greece have won both away games in League A, and their first home game is against a Netherlands side without Gakpo
Ivan Jovanović’s side beat Serbia and Germany on the road, and a win over Xavi’s Netherlands in Thessaloniki would put them five points clear in Group 2.
Oct 1, 2026
Greece have played two Nations League games in League A, both of them away, and won both. Their first home game at this level is against the Netherlands at the Toumba Stadium in Thessaloniki on Thursday, and a win would put them five points clear of Xavi Hernández’s side at the top of Group 2.
Nobody would have predicted that a fortnight ago. Ivan Jovanović’s team came from behind to beat Serbia 2-1 in Belgrade, with Anastasios Douvikas heading a stoppage-time winner, and then beat Jürgen Klopp’s Germany 1-0 in Augsburg on Sunday. Dimitris Kourbelis came off the bench to score the goal there, and it was Greece’s first win over Germany in eleven attempts.
Xavi is short of forwards
The Netherlands have four points from a 1-1 draw with Germany in Amsterdam and a 2-1 win in Serbia on Sunday, Xavi’s first win in charge. That game cost them their best attacker. Cody Gakpo was caught by a Saša Lukić challenge, went off with an ankle injury after 17 minutes, and has since left the squad to be assessed at Liverpool. Xavi did not call anyone up to replace him.
Brian Brobbey is out too, with the hamstring injury he picked up against Germany. That leaves the line to Mexx Meerdink, the AZ striker who scored both goals in Belgrade on his first start, with Crysencio Summerville and Ruben van Bommel likely to play around him.
Xavi was not pretending the Serbia game was a good one. “We do need to play better,” he said afterwards, pointing to the first half, when he felt his side had not pressed well. They will need to in Thessaloniki, against a Greece side that has been happy to let opponents have the ball. Germany had 75 per cent of it in Augsburg and still lost.
The last time Greece hosted the Dutch
The last meeting between the two was a Euro 2024 qualifier in Athens in October 2023, and it ended badly for Greece. Odysseas Vlachodimos saved a Wout Weghorst penalty, the game went into stoppage time at 0-0, and then Virgil van Dijk scored a second Dutch penalty three minutes into added time. The Greece coach then, Gus Poyet, was sent off for his protests.
I would not read too much into that. This Greece side is a different team with a different coach, and two away wins in three days have given it a confidence it did not have in 2023. The Dutch should still start as favourites, but a draw would suit Greece fine, and the way they defended in Augsburg suggests they know exactly how to play for one.
Kick-off is 9:45pm in Thessaloniki, which is 12:15am IST on Friday. Germany host Serbia in the group’s other game the same night.