Sporting’s Greek star sets up goal in thumping 5-1 win over Belarus | OneFootball

Football

Hellenics kicked off their qualification for the 2026 World Cup in the best way, this Friday, September 5, with a Rui Borges protégé standing out

Greece, with Sporting’s new signing in the starting lineup, kicked off their qualification for the 2026 World Cup in the best way with a win over Belarus (5-1)

Greece, with Georgios Vagiannidis as a starter, began their qualification for the 2026 World Cup in the best possible way, thrashing Belarus 5-1 this Friday, September 5. Sporting’s new signing was one of the standout players and provided an assist for a goal. Fotis Ioannidis came on in the 73rd minute.

In the 3rd minute, the Hellenic side was already ahead, thanks to a persistent play by Vangelis Pavlidis, who entered the left side of the box and crossed for an easy goal by Karetsas. In the 17th minute, the Benfica forward responded to a cross from the right and headed in for a goal.

Then it was Bakasetas’ turn, served by Georgios Vagiannidis outside the box, to unleash a rocket for the third goal. The offensive flow didn’t slow down, and before halftime, in the 37th minute, midfielder Dimitrios Kourbelis responded to a corner taken by Bakasetas from the left and headed in—with a little help from the post—for 4-0.

Greece didn’t take their foot off the gas and, in the 63rd minute, won the ball in the opponent’s box and Vangelis Pavlidis assisted Christos Tzolis for an easy goal. Before the game ended, in the 72nd minute—just before Fotis Ioannidis came on—Belarus was awarded a penalty and Barkovsky scored a consolation goal for the visitors.

With this result, the Hellenic team leads Group C with three points, two more than Scotland and Denmark, who drew 0-0 in the other match. Morten Hjulmand, Sporting’s captain, started the match but couldn’t prevent the Nordics from slipping up in Copenhagen.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.