Greece vs. Republic of Ireland | UEFA Nations League | Pre Match

Fresh from an extremely emotionally-charged victory over England, Greece return home on Sunday, when they take on the Republic of Ireland in their next UEFA Nations League showdown.

The Pirate Ship upset the odds to come away from Wembley with a 2-1 win on Thursday evening, while the Boys in Green were also successful on their travels, sinking Finland by the same scoreline in League B Group 2.

A mere 24 hours before kickoff on Thursday evening, news broke of the tragic death of former Greece international and Sheffield United right-back George Baldock, leading the 2004 European champions to request the postponement of their Nations League clash with England.

The Pirate Ship's wish was not granted by UEFA, but in the most fitting tribute to their late teammate possible, Ivan Jovanovic's men - donning their black armbands - played England off the park and deservedly beat the two-time European finalists for the first time.

A second-half double from Vangelis Pavlidis either side of a Jude Bellingham leveller prolonged Greece's perfect start to the 2024-25 competition, and they now lead the way at the top of the rankings by three points, having also conquered Finland and Sunday's visitors last month.

In League B, only first place will do for automatic promotion to the top tier - where Greece are yet to compete - but the Pirate Ship have more than demonstrated their League A credentials, just a couple of years on from finally making it out of League C.

Including a friendly success over Malta in June, Sunday's hosts are now on a four-match winning streak in all tournaments - their last three of which have come under new boss Jovanovic, who extended his 100% record at the expense of Lee Carsley's in midweek.

Victory for Greece on Sunday would see the former continental champions win five games on the spin for the first time since 2016, but Ireland head to Piraeus with a spring in their step following their own triumphant travails on their travels on Thursday night.

The Boys in Green squared up to a Finland side who had also been beaten in both of their opening fixtures last month, and the Scandinavians were on course to make it third time lucky when Joel Pohjanpalo opened the scoring, only for Robbie Brady to inspire a second-half turnaround.

The Preston North End winger assisted Liam Scales's leveller before popping up with an 88th-minute winner, cementing Ireland's spot in third place in the League B Group 2 standings, which would see them contend a promotion/relegation playoff in early 2025.

The beating of Finland marked a maiden victory as Ireland head coach for Heimir Hallgrimsson, as well as a first-ever win away from home in the Nations League for the Boys in Green, but they have never achieved back-to-back triumphs in the competition.

Sunday's visitors were also outplayed by their hosts just over a month ago, falling to two second-half goals in a 2-0 loss to Greece in Dublin, which made it five defeats and one draw for Ireland in six previous meetings with Greece - they have only managed to score once against the Pirate Ship in that time too.