Giorgos Masouras left the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2024 qualification hopes hanging by a thread as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat in Greece.

Olympiakos midfielder Masouras scored the decisive goal in a victory for Gus Poyet’s side which leaves them with maximum points from their opening two Group B fixtures and Ireland with none heading into Monday’s home clash with Gibraltar.

Defender Nathan Collins had earlier cancelled out Tasos Bakasetas’ 15th-minute penalty to give the visitors hope, but in truth Stephen Kenny’s men, who had defender Matt Doherty dismissed in the dying seconds, were out-played for long periods at the OPAP Arena in Athens.

Trabzonspor’s Bakasetas, Masouras and Petros Mantalos tormented Ireland throughout and never allowed Josh Cullen, Jason Knight and Will Smallbone the control they needed to feed the men ahead of them.

Kenny had stopped short of dubbing the game a must-win affair in advance, but a difficult group, which also includes France and the Netherlands, has become an all but impossible one barely before it has begun in earnest.

With injuries limiting his options, Kenny had little choice to make changes to the XI which started the opening qualifier against the French in March and pitched Callum O’Dowda, Darragh Lenihan, Adam Idah and Smallbone, making a competitive debut, into battle.

Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu had to claw a fifth-minute effort from defender Konstantinos Mavropanos out of his top corner and then, having seen Bakasetas’ piledriver deflected marginally wide, palmed another Mavropanos shot over the bar.

The visitors, who were repeatedly targeted with laser pens from the stands, were marooned deep inside their own half as Greece forced a series of early corners, and Bazunu had to rush from his line to deny Masouras with a challenge which sparked fevered calls for a penalty from the locals among a sparse crowd.

Their pleas may have gone unanswered on that occasion, but they did not with 15 minutes gone when Austrian referee Harald Lechner was advised to take a second look at O’Dowda’s block after Sheffield United defender George Baldock had crossed from the right.

Bakasetas took charge from 12 yards and drilled the resulting spot-kick past the helpless Bazunu to give the Greeks a lead they deserved.

Pantelis Hatzidiakos very nearly handed the Republic a route back into the game when he stabbed Doherty’s cross inches wide of his own goal, but the reprieve proved temporary when Evan Ferguson flicked Smallbone’s 27th-minute corner across goal and Collins timed his arrival to perfection to level, albeit after another VAR check.

Bazunu had to get down well to claim a skidding attempt from Bakasetas and saw another fiercely-struck attempt from the midfielder deflected just past his right post, and Ferguson chanced his arm from halfway as a frenetic first half careered towards its conclusion.

Ireland had simply not got to grips with Greece’s 4-3-3 formation before the break, and they were undone once again within four minutes of the restart when Bakasetas slid the ball into Masouras’ run into the penalty area and watched him curl a shot around Bazunu to restore his side’s lead.

Kenny, who had replaced Idah with Mikey Johnston at the break, sent on James McClean – winning his 99th cap – and Jason Knight in the aftermath of the goal with Greece smelling blood.

To their credit, Ireland belatedly started to take the game to their hosts and Collins was denied a spectacular second by Odysseas Vlachodimos’ flying save with 18 minutes remaining.

Former Celtic frontman Giorgos Giakoumakis could have wrapped up the win 11 minutes from time after working his way into a good shooting position, but lifting his effort harmlessly over the bar.

Doherty might have levelled with a stoppage-time snapshot which was saved by Vlachodimos, and his misery was compounded at the death when he was sent off as tempers flared.

Northern Ireland had a stoppage-time equaliser ruled out by VAR as a battling display went unrewarded in a 1-0 Euro 2024 qualifying loss to Denmark.

Jonas Wind’s goal early in the second half made the difference in Copenhagen as debutant Callum Marshall saw a dream goal ruled out for offside after a review which took almost five minutes.

The West Ham youngster flicked the ball in after Jonny Evans headed on a free-kick, but there was despair when referee Daniel Stefanski eventually signalled for offside after his colleague Tomasz Kwiatkowski took an age to review the footage.

Michael O’Neill’s men defended doggedly away to the top seeds in Group H, but a mistake just two minutes after the break proved decisive as Denmark bounced back from March’s shock defeat to Kazakhstan and put the pressure on Northern Ireland to deliver when the Kazakhs visit Windsor Park on Monday.

Wind pounced when Ciaron Brown got it all wrong trying to deal with Joakim Maehle’s short cross in from the left, slamming the ball home from close range.

But O’Neill will take encouragement from how a youthful line-up dealt with the hardest fixture in Group H.

Before kick-off came news that Craig Cathcart had suffered a back injury, taking the number of first-team regulars missing to 10, a figure threatening to derail this qualifying campaign even before the halfway stage.

Trai Hume made his first start at left wing-back, with Evans between Brown and Paddy McNair at the back. Also making his first start was Isaac Price, one of three teenagers in the side along with Conor Bradley and Shea Charles.

O’Neill was well aware of what he was asking of such inexperienced players in the raucous atmosphere of the Parken Stadium, and watched on as they soaked up huge amounts of pressure before the break as Denmark grew frustrated.

Andreas Skov Olsen’s early cross was slightly behind Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who twisted acrobatically to make contact but could not find the target.

Christian Eriksen sent a free-kick from long range wide, while the clearest chance came to Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen just before the half hour as space opened up in front of him, but his powerful shot was straight at Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

Shayne Lavery, selected ahead of Dion Charles in attack, worked tirelessly to offer an outlet as he and the slender figure of Price, asked to play in an advanced role, faced up to Denmark’s imposing back three of Simon Kjaer, Andreas Christensen and Andersen.

It was Lavery who had Northern Ireland’s only first-half opportunity when Price laid the ball off on the edge of the area. Lavery looked up to see three defenders closing in, but got off a deflected strike which Kasper Schmeichel was able to gather.

But after all that hard work in the first half, Denmark needed only two minutes of the second to find the breakthrough thanks to a mistake at the back.

Northern Ireland did not recover their shape after Bradley lost the ball, and when Brown stumbled to the floor, Wind accepted the gift.

A set-piece offered Northern Ireland an opportunity but Price and Lavery got their wires crossed trying to play it short and Denmark broke, with Peacock-Farrell saving smartly from the in-demand Rasmus Hojlund, scorer of five goals in the first two qualifiers.

Quick distribution from Peacock-Farrell set Price free down the right as the hour mark approached, but with no support the teenager had to test Schmeichel from a tight angle, forcing a corner.

It looked as though there was a late twist when Marshall, on for Ali McCann with five minutes left, turned the ball home from close range, but VAR would kill the celebrations.

Just three games into the qualifying campaign, it feels as though Northern Ireland must now deliver a result at home on Monday to keep themselves in the mix.

Wales’ hopes of Euro 2024 qualification were seriously damaged by a humiliating 4-2 defeat to Armenia in Cardiff.

Lucas Zelarayan and Grant-Leon Ranos both scored twice as Armenia – ranked 97 in the world and 71 places lower than Wales – secured one of the greatest victories in their football history.

Daniel James had given Wales an early opener and Harry Wilson cut the deficit to 3-2 after Armenia had seized control, aided by some truly desperate home defending.

But Armenia responded in style and Welsh misery was completed by the dismissal of Kieffer Moore, who was adjudged to have committed foul play by Bulgarian referee Georgi Kabadov after tangling with goalkeeper Ognjen Chancharevich.

Moore will miss Monday’s trip to Turkey that now takes on extra significance for Wales after this setback.

It was a sweet success for Armenia coach Olesksandr Petrakov, 12 months on after his Ukraine side were beaten in a World Cup play-off final in Cardiff.

Wales had not lost in 12 home European Championship qualifiers – the last defeat being against England in March 2011 – but Armenia joined the likes of Belarus, Cyprus, Macedonia and Moldova in inflicting embarrassing defeats on them down the years.

Vice-captain Ben Davies and Brennan Johnson were welcomed back after missing the two qualifiers in March when Wales had picked up four points.

David Brooks was among the substitutes after rejoining the squad for the first time since being diagnosed with stage-two Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2021.

Wales applied early pressure with Connor Roberts’ long throws posing problems and Moore going close from one of them.

Moore had just headed wide when Johnson’s delicious 10th-minute cross set James up for a simple sixth Wales goal.

If the hosts thought that early breakthrough would deflate Armenia then they were in for a rude awakening.

Captain Eduard Spertsyan headed inches wide and Danny Ward had to stretch every sinew to hold Nair Tiknizyan’s cross at the second attempt.

But Ward had no chance when the rampaging Tiknizyan again centred from the left for Zelarayan to send a sweet volley past him.

It got worse for Wales as Joe Rodon lost possession in his own half and Spertsyan’s perfect ball arced over Chris Mepham for the unmarked Ranos to head home.

Tigran Barseghyan almost embarrassed Wales further, but – in a half when it appeared that a goal would arrive from every attack – the Armenia goal suddenly came under siege.

Moore sidefooted the ball traight at Chancharevich after Wilson had sprung the offside trap and Rodon’s header drifted the wrong side of a post from a Welsh perspective.

James drove wide after the restart, but Wales became increasingly stifled and frustrated by Armenia’s time-wasting tactics before Ranos supplied another unpleasant surprise with a wonderful finish.

Wales were back in it 18 minutes from time when Moore headed down at the far post and Wilson stabbed home from close range.

But Armenia responded again for Ranos to thump a post and be denied a hat-trick.

Wales failed to make the most of their good fortune as substitute Joe Morrell lost possession to Ugochukwu Iwu and Zelarayan smashed home his second.

Brooks came on for a late cameo to provide Wales with some cheer.

But Moore’s red card – that appeared harsh on first glance – confirmed Armenia’s first win in 10 games on a crazy night at Cardiff City Stadium.

Trent Alexander-Arnold scored a stunner and sparkled in midfield as England continued their march to Euro 2024 with a comprehensive victory against minnows Malta.

The talented full-back has rarely looked like the player that shines for Liverpool when donning a Three Lions shirt, with the immense competition at right-back also restricting his opportunities.

Alexander-Arnold won just his 19th England cap on Friday night against Malta and impressed in a midfield role, helping to inspire Gareth Southgate’s side to a straightforward 4-0 victory.

The 24-year-old made an impact from outset at the sold-out Ta’ Qali National Stadium, with this exceptional early pass putting Bukayo Saka behind to produce a cross that Ferdinando Apap turned into his own goal.

Alexander-Arnold continued to star and produced a moment of magic in the 28th minute, taking aim from 23 yards as he curled home just his second England goal.

The midfielder also had a hand in England’s third goal, winning the ball high up the pitch at the start of a move that ended with Harry Kane scoring a penalty.

There was a far better mood in the away section than the last trip to Malta in 2017, when Southgate’s side were jeered off after a scoreless first half as many travelling fans made an early exit.

Large numbers of England fans again departed at half-time this time around, but it was to toast a job well done rather than to grumble over beers like six years ago.

In truth, they missed little aside from substitute Callum Wilson converting a late penalty as Southgate’s men continued their 100 per cent start in Group C.

Scotland manager Steve Clarke stressed the need to focus on “Norway the team” rather than become obsessed with trying to stop Erling Haaland.

Haaland goes into Saturday’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Oslo on the back of a 52-goal, treble-winning season with Manchester City and is set to make his first international appearance since September in front of an expectant crowd at the Ullevaal Stadium.

Much of the build-up to the game has been dominated by talk of the 22-year-old striker’s threat, but Clarke and defender Liam Cooper were careful not to overlook the rest of the Norway team – or give them any cause to feel under-appreciated.

Asked about trying stop Haaland, Clarke said: “As we always do, we concentrate on ourselves. We prepare properly for the game, we respect our opponents. We play Norway the team, and hopefully Scotland the team are a little bit better on the night.”

Leeds defender Cooper provided a similar response, saying: “With Erling, his goals and achievements speak for themselves. He has had an unbelievable season at club level, but I don’t like to disrespect the Norway team, they have a lot of good players and to put all our focus on one player, I think that would be wrong of us.

“We obviously know what Erling brings, he is an unbelievable player and unbelievable goalscorer, but we have to pay a lot of respect to the rest of the team as well.

“Obviously (Martin) Odegaard is a very good player, he has also been in a title challenge this year. They have got amazing players. We have to keep Erling and Odegaard in check, but there’s a lot of other players to worry about as well.”

Cooper played as Haaland netted twice at Elland Road earlier this season and, asked what made the forward such a difficult opponent, the 31-year-old said: “For one, he doesn’t need many chances. So you can almost guarantee if he does get a chance it will go away.

“He is strong, he is powerful and he is always on your shoulder, always looking to get in behind. Obviously if we are not on top of our game and we are not cautious of that, he can damage us and he can hurt us.

“But I don’t want to disrespect the rest of the team. We have got to look after the whole of the Norway team and that’s the way it will be.

“We are going to need a big performance, especially a defensive performance. Hopefully we can get that, the boys are dialled in, and get a positive result.”

Scotland go into the game on the back of beating Group A favourites Spain 2-0 at Hampden in March to make it a perfect start to the campaign, while Norway sit on one point from their two matches.

Asked if his Scotland side now expect to win these types of games, Clarke said: “I think we should come with confidence. Obviously we had a good March and we have had a good run of wins in competitive fixtures.

“But we know we are coming to a difficult place. We always respect our opponents, we try and play as well as we can, and hopefully we can add to the points tally.

“It’s a different challenge, it’s an away game. Norway are a different team from Spain, they play a different way.

“They put you under a little bit more pressure maybe. Spain will pass the ball and pass the ball and try to win the game with possession. Norway can play with the ball because they have good ball players, but they can also be quite direct as well.”

Clarke reported a healthy squad following a Spanish training camp and this week’s work at Lesser Hampden.

“Full squad’s here, 25 players have travelled,” he said. “I have got a big decision, I have got to leave two out of the 23, so that’s my next job.”

Michael O’Neill has told his young Northern Ireland players to embrace the challenge of taking on Denmark in Copenhagen on Friday night.

O’Neill said this Euro 2024 qualifier was not only the hardest fixture on paper but the “hardest fixture full stop” as Northern Ireland travel to take on the top seeds in Group H at the always noisy Parken Stadium.

Jamal Lewis has been added to an already lengthy injury list which has robbed O’Neill of half a dozen of his most experienced players, and with Shane Ferguson also out there is a shortage of left-sided players.

O’Neill will try to get as much experience as he can into his starting 11, but there will be no option but to rely on younger players too, with Conor Bradley and Shea Charles among the contenders to start.

“This is a good game for us,” O’Neill said. “It’s a young squad, we’ve got seven under-21 players with us. We’ll rely heavily on our experienced players as well. It’s a game we can only gain from really.

“Obviously we were disappointed with the home game against Finland (a 1-0 defeat in March), we felt we deserved more than we got, so we’ve got to try and make up points somewhere along the line. This is a hard place to play, but we’ll go with the intention of trying to find something from the game.”

The 38,000-seater Parken Stadium can become an intimidating place for visiting teams, but while it might be unlike anything Northern Ireland’s younger players have experienced before, O’Neill does not want them to shy away.

“I think they should embrace it really more than anything else,” he said. “The message will be go out and enjoy playing in a stadium like this…

“The thing I’ve enjoyed in working with the younger players is I see their attitude to the game, it’s very positive, I don’t think they’ll have a fear.

“There’s a lot of self-belief and abilities in the likes of Shea Charles, Isaac Price, Conor Bradley, Trai Hume, they play in games where they’ve a lot of expectancy where they’re currently playing their football.

“I think we have to have that mindset that we’ve got everything to gain from Friday night and not fear the atmosphere but look forward to it.”

One key challenge for Northern Ireland will be limiting Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen’s ability to dictate play from the centre of pitch.

“We understand we are dealing with a top level player here,” O’Neill said. “It’s brilliant seeing him back playing international football.

“The days of man marking players is more difficult now but as a team we have made the midfield players in particular very aware of the Danish midfield and Christian Eriksen is the major player in that midfield. He is a hugely experienced player at international level.

“I think to deal with players at that level it’s more about what we do as a collective as opposed to possibly that designated player to deal with that situation.”

Both sides come into the game nursing disappointments from the last round of fixtures in March.

Denmark suffered a shock defeat to Kazakhstan, blowing a 2-0 lead as their unfancied hosts scored three in the last 20 minutes, while O’Neill’s first game back in charge at Windsor Park ended in that loss to Finland.

O’Neill insisted he was not interested in making any sort of statement by claiming a big scalp on Friday, but his mind is on making up for what he sees as lost points.

“It would give us six points and it would make up for the disappointment of Finland,” he said. “I don’t think it’s about sending out a statement. I think this group could be very tight. Results have demonstrated that.

“If you can take anything off the number one seed in the group it is a massive achievement.”

Scotland defender Jack Hendry is relishing the prospect of facing Erling Haaland after enjoying previous battles against some of the world’s best forwards.

Hendry has a good chance of starting in Saturday’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Oslo despite missing Scotland’s opening wins with injury. Grant Hanley and Scott McKenna are absent with injuries ahead of this month’s double header.

Haaland also missed the March qualifiers through injury and will be determined to add to his 53 goals for club and country this season after helping Manchester City clinch the treble last weekend.

When asked how you stop the striker, Hendry said: “I think we will keep that amongst ourselves in the group, I don’t want to give too much away. But a lot of people have tried to stop him this season and they haven’t done.

“He is an amazing player with an amazing record this season but we will taking a look at the full team and trying to combat that.

“We will do our best but it’s something I will definitely be relishing if I get called upon, to try and get the better of him.

“Obviously he has had an amazing season and of course that’s the type of players you want to test yourselves against. If I am called upon it’s a game I will be really looking forward to, testing yourself against the best in the world.

“I think we concentrate on ourselves, we did that for the first two games. If we keep on focusing on ourselves that will stand us in good stead.”

The Club Brugge defender faced City last season in the Champions League and also Paris St Germain, helping his side to a 1-1 draw against a forward line of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

“Not just big names, every game I am going into, I will have a quick look at the strikers I am coming up against, what their movements etc might be,” he said.

“Like Haaland, with every other player, I will study them and see how they are going to play and come up with a best solution on how to deal with them.

“But playing against top strikers like Mbappe will give me great experience going into these type of contests.

“The more games you play at that level the more confidence it gives you and I am lucky enough to have played quite a few games at that level now.

“I know that’s the level I can play at and I get a real excitement out of coming up against these type of players. It’s something the full team are looking forward to.”

Hendry missed three months of the season with a knee injury shortly after facing Benfica in the Champions League knockout stages in February, but he was back in the team for the final three games of the season.

Hendry, who had a loan spell at Serie A side Cremonese earlier in the season, said: “It was vital for me on a personal note at Club Brugge but also to now come into the international set-up, those games were vital for me to get that rhythm.

“They couldn’t have come about at a better time for Scotland. It was kind of an up-and-down season for me but I made sure I worked hard at Club Brugge to get those games and get those minutes and it has paid off coming into these games.

“I like to put myself out the comfort zone and went to play in Italy. The chance came up, it was probably just the wrong club at the wrong time, but I learnt a lot from it.

“Obviously there have been a few managerial changes at the clubs I have been at this season so it’s not been easy, with a couple of niggling injuries that recurred a couple of times. But that’s part and parcel of being a footballer and I still managed to get a few games under my belt.”

Jude Bellingham has praised England manager Gareth Southgate for the “amazing job” he has done in easing him into the set-up and aiding the ascension of fellow young stars.

With talent and maturity that belies his tender years, the nascent 19-year-old midfielder has established himself as a key player for the national team and has two major tournaments under his belt.

Bellingham has won 24 caps under Southgate and only a knee injury has prevented the England star from adding to that tally in the upcoming Euro 2024 qualification double-header against Malta and North Macedonia.

“I think Gareth has done an amazing job in easing me in,” Bellingham told the PA news agency. 

Michael O’Neill believes Northern Ireland still have everything to play for in their bid to reach Euro 2024 even as injuries hit hard during the qualifying campaign.

With a trip to Denmark and a home match against Kazakhstan up next, O’Neill has named a 28-man squad that includes five uncapped players and a total of 15 with fewer than 10 caps.

Although Jonny Evans returns from the hamstring injury that prevented him from adding to his 100 caps in March, Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans, Liam Boyce, Josh Magennis, Conor Washington and Shane Ferguson remain sidelined, forcing O’Neill to rely on youth.

When O’Neill returned to the Northern Ireland job in December there was an opportunity to capitalise on a favourable qualifying draw, and although that remains possible, the absence of his most experienced players is making it a much tougher ask.

Northern Ireland began with a 2-0 win in San Marino in their group opener, but a 1-0 home defeat to Finland highlighted the difficulties.

Asked if the job had been harder than envisaged, O’Neill said: “I suppose it depends on what the expectation is for this campaign going forward as well. I still think we have got everything to play for in this campaign.

“The next two games are going to be very important and then obviously we have a double-header away in September (against Slovenia and Kazakhstan) which will be difficult, so we are going to ask a lot of a number of young players in this group.

“The senior players that we have with us, we really can’t afford to lose any more. I think we have eight players out who could all equally play for us, who have all been established players with a high number of caps.

“That is the situation that unfortunately we just have to deal with.”

It has meant O’Neill has been juggling the need for results with the need to nurture young players, with Conor Bradley and Shea Charles in particular asked to take on significant roles.

“It is a different approach from taking a team and saying ‘Right, how do we qualify? What is our route to qualification? How do we get enough points?’” O’Neill added.

“Of course, that is always in the background but I think it is more about the integration of the younger players and they will have to learn very quickly on the job if we are going to take that next step.”

O’Neill has hosted a series of training camps with senior players and under-21s in recent weeks, aiming to keep fitness levels high after the end of domestic campaigns while running the rule over younger faces.

Nottingham Forest defender Aaron Donnelly, West Ham teenager Callum Marshall and Larne forward Lee Bonis have all used the opportunity to earn their first senior call-ups.

While the return of Evans is a major boost, the Leicester defender will come into camp dealing with the disappointment of relegation and facing uncertainty over his future.

“He is very disappointed for them to go down and he is in a situation where he is out of contract as well,” O’Neill said. “I am sure if he was playing his football elsewhere next season he would have liked to have left Leicester in a slightly different way but he was just unfortunate this season.

“Probably, I think by his own admission, he pushed very hard to get back because I think he does make a difference to Leicester’s team. I think you saw that in the final three games that he was fit to play in. But I know he is keen to be a part of this squad and play.

“It is big for us to have him back, obviously we missed him in March and I believe that Jonny still has a lot of football left in him, both with Northern Ireland and wherever he chooses to play his football next season.”

Jonny Evans is back in the Northern Ireland squad for next week’s Euro 2024 qualifiers but Michael O’Neill will once again be relying on youth with a long list of senior players still injured.

Evans – out of contract at relegated Leicester this summer – was unable to add to his 100 caps in March when he was forced to pull out of O’Neill’s first games back in charge of the national team due to a hamstring injury, but is in a 28-man squad to play Denmark away and Kazakhstan at home.

But with Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans, Liam Boyce, Josh Magennis, Conor Washington and Shane Ferguson all still sidelined, O’Neill has included five uncapped players, with 15 of the 28 having fewer than 10 caps.

Nottingham Forest defender Aaron Donnelly, West Ham teenager Callum Marshall and Larne forward Lee Bonis have all received their first call-ups, with the uncapped Sean Goss and Eoin Toal again included after not featuring in March’s fixtures.

Blackpool striker Shayne Lavery returns after a hamstring injury kept him out of the last squad, although there will be a question over his fitness levels as he has managed only one appearance, as a substitute away to Norwich on the final day, since being sidelined in February.

There is also a return for Ethan Galbraith, who earned the last of his two international caps back in 2020.

The 22-year-old is a free agent this summer after leaving Manchester United, having spent last season on loan at Salford.

O’Neill has been working with several players from both the senior ranks and the under-21s at a series of training camps in recent weeks, aiming to keep his players sharp following the end of their domestic campaigns.

Northern Ireland travel to Copenhagen to face Denmark on Friday June 16 before taking on Kazakhstan at Windsor Park the following Monday.