Soccer Football - Nations League - Play-offs - Second Leg - Scotland v Greece - Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - March 23, 2025 Greece's Christos Tzolis scores their third goal Action Images via Reuters/Craig Brough
GLASGOW, Scotland (Reuters) -Scotland missed the chance to play in Group A of the Nations League next season after visitors Greece breezed past them 3-0 in their playoff second leg on Sunday for an aggregate 3-1 win.
Scotland had a 1-0 lead after the first leg away on Thursday, with Scott McTominay scoring from the penalty spot in the first half after Lazaros Rota committed a foul.
That lead slipped away when Giannis Konstantelias latched onto a perfectly placed cross in the 20th minute. With a single, precise touch, he fired a low shot that curled into the near post, levelling the aggregate score.
Three minutes before the break, Hampden Park fell into stunned silence as 17-year-old Konstantinos Karetsas doubled Greece's lead with a composed, curled left-foot finish, unmarked inside the box.
The nightmare continued for Scotland just 20 seconds after the restart when Greece added a third, Christos Tzolis scoring after being left unmarked and receiving a perfect delivery to all but end the contest.
TURKEY DOMINATE
In Budapest, Turkey cruised into Group A for the next edition of the Nations League with a 3-0 win over Hungary for an aggregate score of 6-1.
The hosts faced a tough challenge, trailing Turkey by 3-1 from the first leg, and it quickly became clear they lacked the firepower to mount a strong comeback.
Penalty specialist Hakan Calhanoglu put Turkey ahead from the spot in the 37th minute after Attila Fiola fouled Ismail Yuksek. Two minutes later, Arda Guler doubled Turkey's advantage, effectively sealing the match. Abdulkerim Bardakci added a third for Turkey in stoppage time.
Serbia managed to seal their League A spot after a 2-0 win at home over Austria, with Nemanja Maksimovic scoring in the 56th minute and Dusan Vlahovic scoring a second in stoppage time to secure an aggregate score of 3-1.
Austria’s Gernot Trauner was sent off for a foul on Stefan Mitrovic late in the match, and with Serbia in control, Austria could not find a way back.
Georgia had few problems earlier on Sunday to maintain their place in League B after they overwhelmed Armenia 6-1 at home for a 9-1 aggregate win. Kosovo won the right to move into League B as they won 3-1 at Iceland for an 5-2 aggregate score.
Hosts Slovenia kept their spot in League B with a 1-0 aggregate playoff win over third-tier Slovakia thanks to Adam Gnezda Cerin's goal five minutes into the first period of extra time after the two legs still stood goalless.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
