Greece Under-21 Beats Latvia 4-2 in Euro Qualifiers Behind Braces from Almyras and Kostoulas

Fast start in Livadeia

Greece Under-21 secured a 4-2 victory over Latvia on 1 October 2026 at the municipal stadium in Livadeia, keeping their qualifying bid for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship on track. Giannis Taousianis's team established control in the opening minutes, scoring after five minutes when Dimitrios Pneumonidis sent a delivery into the box from the wing and Christos Almyras converted from near the penalty spot. Greece doubled their advantage in the 17th minute when Konstantinos Goumas delivered a corner that defender Konstantinos Kostoulas headed into the net.

Latvia capitalized on defensive lapses in the 27th minute to narrow the gap. Dimitrios Monastirlis saved an initial attempt from Dans Lormanis, but Glebs Patrikejevs reacted quickly to put the rebound into an empty net. Greece responded ten minutes later when Pneumonidis and Almyras linked up again inside the penalty area, allowing the Djurgarden midfielder to finish past Latvian goalkeeper Sergejs Parfjonovs and make it 3-1 before the half-time whistle.

Second-half pressure and late goals

Greece maintained their attacking momentum early in the second half. In the 53rd minute, second-half substitute Adrian Bregou found Kostoulas with a cross into the penalty area, and the OFI defender headed past Parfjonovs for his second goal of the match. Both Almyras and Kostoulas subsequently missed opportunities to record hat-tricks, with Almyras placing a shot wide after build-up play by Bregou and Pneumonidis, while Kostoulas missed the target following a pass from Pavlos Papakanellos.

Latvia coach Jakub Dovalil introduced substitutions after the hour mark to steady his squad, bringing on Markuss Veinbergs and Davis Lizunovs. Monastirlis denied Veinbergs in a one-on-one situation in the 76th minute to preserve Greece's three-goal cushion, and Parfjonovs pushed a direct free kick from Christos Apostolakis around the post after 80 minutes. In stoppage time, Lizunovs scored Latvia's second goal, establishing the final 4-2 margin.

Group 6 standings and direct qualification rules

The result lifted Greece to 24 points from nine matches in Group 6, placing them level on points with Germany at the summit of the table. Germany maintains first place due to their superior goal difference of positive 25 compared to Greece's positive 22, as well as their head-to-head record over Greece across their two meetings. Group 6 standings also show Northern Ireland in third place with 13 points, Georgia fourth with 9 points, Latvia fifth with 5 points, and Malta sixth with zero points.

Under the qualifying format for the tournament co-hosted by Albania and Serbia, the nine group winners and the best runner-up qualify directly for the final tournament. In the ranking of second-placed teams, which discounts matches played against sixth-placed sides, Greece holds 18 points with a positive 12 goal difference across seven matches. They sit third in that ranking behind Spain and Italy, who each hold 18 points with a positive 16 goal difference.

Decisive fixtures on the final matchday

The qualification campaign concludes on 6 October 2026. Greece travels to face Northern Ireland, while Germany hosts Georgia in the final round of Group 6 fixtures. The Greek side enters the match having won eight of their nine group fixtures, with their only defeat coming against Germany. Because Germany holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, Taousianis's squad needs Germany to drop points against Georgia to finish first, or must win in Belfast to keep alive their bid for direct qualification as the best runner-up.