Joe Root has become England's record run scorer in Tests, overtaking Alastair Cook.
Root broke Cook's record of 12,472 runs when he moved onto 71 against Pakistan with a sublime drive for four.
That moved Root onto 12,473 runs, making him England's outright leading scorer in Test cricket.
The former Test captain, who made his debut in December 2012, has played 147 matches in the longest format, batting in 268 innings in total. He has been not out on 22 occasions.
His high score is 254, which came against Pakistan.
By the time he hit his record-breaking boundary, Root had plundered 34 centuries, 65 half-centuries and struck 1,349 fours and 44 sixes. He has been dismissed for a duck 12 times.
He has scored more runs against India (2,846) than against any other team, with Australia (2,428) his next favourite opponent. Root's high score in 55 innings against India is 218.
In comparison, Cook ended his illustrious career with a Test average of 45.35 and a high score of 294, which came against India, who he scored 4,431 runs against in total.
However, Australia were Cook's favourite team to bat against when it came to run scoring – he tallied up 2,493 against them, albeit his highest average came against West Indies (57.96 – 1,739 runs scored total in 35 innings).
Cook, who hit just 11 sixes but struck 1,442 fours, batted for 291 innings across 161 matches, and has gone unbeaten on 16 occasions. His strike rate was 46.95, while he hit 33 centuries and 57 half-centuries. He was only dismissed for a duck nine times.
Root makes history as England dig in against Pakistan
Joe Root led England's fight against Pakistan as he scored an incredible century to become their all-time leading run-scorer in Tests on day three.
Despite their rocky start out in the field, England are firmly back in the contest thanks to Root and Harry Brook.
Root started the day on 32, picking up alongside Zak Crawley, with England at 96-1 as they began the long chase.
It looked like it might stall as Crawley was caught by Aamir Jamal for 78, but Ben Duckett (84), who was okay to bat despite injuring his thumb yesterday, steadied the ship once again.
Root made history with a sublime drive for a four, before then bringing up his 35th Test century as he batted through the intense heat to reach 176 not out.
When Jamal pinned Duckett for lbw, Brook arrived with his own century, getting 141 as England pushed to finish the day at 492-3, now only trailing Pakistan by 64 runs.
The tourists have never conceded as many as Pakistan's 556 and gone on to take a first-innings lead, but they have put themselves in a position to do just that on day four.
Data Debrief: History maker
Going into this Test, Root needed just 71 runs to overtake Alastair Cook's all-time record of 12,472, but he more than surpassed that.
At the end of day three, he is now on 12,578 in 147 matches, batting in 268 innings in total. His highest score in that time came against Pakistan (254), while his tally of 176 not out is his highest tally in the host country.
Root now has 35 centuries and struck 1,355 fours and 44 sixes.
The Numbers Game: Carsley aims to stake claim for permanent England job
England have made a bright start to life without Gareth Southgate, putting in impressive displays to win both of their Nations League openers against Republic of Ireland and Finland in September.
With a permanent replacement still yet to be announced for the national team, Lee Carsley will again be in the dugout this week aiming to maintain his 100% record.
With the aim to gain promotion back to League A, Carsley is set to come up against his toughest test yet given that England are not in the driving seat in their current group.
Greece sit above them in the table, with a superior goal difference and are on a three-match winning streak in all competitions.
But having disappointed in their previous Nations League campaign, England will be determined to put things right and avoid a slip-up in front of the home fans.
Using Opta data, we delve into the key talking points ahead of Thursday's clash at Wembley.
What's expected?
The Three Lions put on an attacking show against Ireland and Finland, having a collective total of 38 shots and accumulating 4.3 expected goals (xG) across both matches.
So it is perhaps no surprise that England are favourites going into this one, with the Opta supercomputer giving them a 75.1% chance of victory.
Greece, on the other hand, are only given a 10.2% chance of causing an upset, while the likelihood of getting a draw sits at 14.6%.
History is certainly on England's side as they have never lost any of their nine meetings with Greece in all competitions (W7 D2), keeping a clean sheet in seven of those matches.
Greece have, however, drawn their last two competitive away matches against England, most recently 2-2 in a World Cup qualifier in October 2001. They led that match twice before David Beckham's famous 90th-minute free-kick sent the Three Lions to the 2002 World Cup.
Staking his claim
Carsley isn't keen to answer questions about his long-term future with England, but he is certainly doing his chances of getting the full-time job no harm.
In fact, he is aiming to be the first England manager to win his first three competitive matches in charge since Fabio Capello in October 2008. If the team can keep another clean sheet, he will be the first ever to do so without conceding.
The interim manager also has some familiar faces available again after illness and injury prevented Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham from linking up with the squad last time around.
Palmer has started the Premier League season in scintillating form, with six goals to his name already.
Since his Chelsea debut last September, he has been involved in more goals in the competition than any other player (44 – 28 goals, 16 assists), and he is surely pushing for just his third England start.
Carsley could go with Bellingham for this game though, which would move him outright second for the most England appearances before turning 22 (currently 36, level with Marcus Rashford), after Wayne Rooney (40).
While England's attack is often the main focus, Carsley's defensive record is nothing to be dismissed. At the 2023 U21 Euros, his side did not concede a single goal, and he has carried that record into the senior team, albeit only facing eight shots across the first two matches.
Kyle Walker provides a welcome boost at the back as he returns to the squad and, if he is given the nod at right-back in this game, he will have made the joint-fifth most appearances for England at Wembley (currently 37).
He would have to unseat Trent Alexander-Arnold for that to happen, with the Liverpool right-back having created five chances against Finland. That is the third time he has created five or more chances in an England game since the start of 2019, with no other player doing so on more than one occasion.
Top of the pile
England may have won 16 of their last 21 competitive outings on home soil (D2 L3), including each of the last five, but Greece will certainly be no pushovers.
After three seasons in League C, they managed to gain promotion and have taken to their new league with consecutive wins to top the table.
Since the inaugural Nations League in 2018-19, no team has won more games in the competition than Greece (W13 D3 L4).
They also boast the best defensive record in the tournament's history, conceding the fewest goals (eight) and keeping the most clean sheets (14).
Greece are, however, winless in their last 12 matches against nations in the top five of the FIFA rankings (D6 L6) - a run that stretches back to a 1-0 win over France en route to their Euro 2004 title.
Having drawn 2-2 against France in November 2023 - their most recent fixture against any team currently in the top five - there is a small body of evidence of their ability to compete against the best.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
England – Harry Kane
England captain Harry Kane has scored 26 goals in 26 competitive home appearances for the Three Lions, scoring in each of his last six such outings (nine goals).
Only Steve Bloomer (1895-1899) and Wayne Rooney (2012-2015) have ever scored in seven straight competitive home games for the nation. Having scored twice against Finland last time out in the Nations League, he will be keen to keep his run going.
Greece – Fotis Ioannidis
Only Slovenia's Benjamin Sesko (four) scored more goals than Fotis Ioannidis (three) across the opening two matchdays of the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League.
He has also scored five goals in his last six international appearances. But Ioannidis is a major doubt for this fixture, having hobbled off just before half-time for Panathinaikos against Olympiacos on Sunday.
Jack Grealish believes he should have been in England's Euro 2024 squad
Jack Grealish thinks that he should have been part of England's Euro 2024 squad.
Grealish was initially called up for the Three Lions' 33-man training squad, but was one of seven players who did not make the final squad for Germany.
England reached the final, losing 2-1 to Spain.
The 29-year-old has been back in the fold under interim manager Lee Carsley, and impressed in September's Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
"I will be honest with you, I didn’t really agree with it," Grealish told BBC Radio 5 Live of Gareth Southgate's decision not to include him among the final 26 players.
"You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself [as] quite an experienced player now.
"I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn't meant to be."
Grealish started just 10 league matches for Manchester City in the 2023-24 season, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
While he admitted that he "didn’t have the best season" domestically, he was left "devastated" by his omission and said that missing out on Euro 2024 was "probably the most difficult period of my life".
Grealish scored in England's 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin last month, and will be hoping for more of the same against Greece and Finland in the coming week.
Asked if he felt he had a point to prove, Grealish made it clear that he wanted to show people what England were missing at Euro 2024.
"Of course, I wanted to come here and train well and play well," he said.
"I thank Lee Carsley for giving me that chance and having that trust in me.
"It obviously really meant a lot. I think throughout my career when I have played under managers who have shown trust in me and communicated with me the way he has the last two camps, it really helps me.
"It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can't speak highly enough of him since I have been here."
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