CRETE – Greece’s National Team delivered a second-half masterclass, thrashing Bulgaria 4-0 in their final friendly match on home soil at the Pancretan Championship, setting a confident tone ahead of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in September.
The first half saw a lackluster Greece struggle to break through. Despite chances from Dimitris Pelkas, whose 33rd-minute shot sailed over, and Fotis Ioannidis, denied by a sharp save from Bulgaria’s goalkeeper Mitov in stoppage time, the teams went into the break deadlocked at 0-0.
The “blue and white” flipped the script after the interval. Pelkas ignited the rout in the 51st minute with a clinical volley (1-0). Ioannidis doubled the lead in the 66th minute, slotting home after a precise Pelkas pass (2-0). Substitute Christos Tzolis, fresh off the bench, buried a penalty in the 71st minute (3-0), before Giannis Konstantelias capped the night in the 89th minute, tapping in a Christos Zafeiris assist (4-0).
Coach Ivan Jovanovic praised the team’s resilience: “We found our rhythm in the second half and showed what we’re capable of.” Greece now turns its focus to the World Cup Qualifiers, with their next match scheduled for September.
Lineups:
Greece: Tzolakis; Rota, Mavropanos, Hadjidiakos, Tsimikas; Siopis (72′ Kourbelis), Mouzakitis (72′ Zafeiris), Bakasetas (82′ Alexandropoulos), Masouras (72′ Tzolis), Pelkas (87′ Konstantelias), Ioannidis (75′ Pavlidis).
Bulgaria: Mitov; H. Petrov, S. Petrov, Nedialkov, Minkov (79′ Popov), Guev (87′ Milanov), Kraev (79′ Sopov), M. Petkov (66′ Mintsev), Nuernberger, L. Petkov (79′ Iliev), Nikolov (66′ Kolev).