Italy defeat Greece 1–0, playing with 10 men, in the 2026 international friendly

Greece and Italy played their international friendly, which ended in a victory for the visitors.

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With 10 men, Italy defeated Greece 1–0 with a goal from Pio Esposito in the 2026 international friendly.

Five minutes of added time are being played.

A delicate touch from Pavlidis at the near post was saved by the Italian goalkeeper in Greece’s most dangerous chance of the match.

Pio Esposito and Koleosho come off, with Giacomo Faticanti and Francesco Camarda coming on.

Fatigue, the heat, and being a man down mean Italy are no longer pushing forward as much.

Costantino Favasuli almost scored the second with a powerful shot from outside the box.

A powerful shot from Christos Zafeiris hits the post and almost gives Greece the equalizer.

In a low-quality match, Italy are holding onto their lead despite being a man down.

Christos Zafeiris and Andrews Tetteh come on, replacing Georgios Vagiannidis and Christos Mouzakitis.

We are now in the final stretch of the match.

More changes for Italy: Costantino Favasuli and Matteo Dagasso come on, replacing Luca Koleosho and Luca Lipani.

Meanwhile, with 20 minutes remaining, the hosts look to take advantage of the extra man to find an equalizer.

Second cooling break is underway!

Luca Reggiani is sent off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity, leaving Italy with 10 men.

The substitutes have given fresh energy to the Greek attack, but without managing to get into Donnarumma’s box with any real clarity.

Athanasios Androutsos, Alexandros Kyziridis, and Konstantinos Tsimikas enter the field, replacing Georgios Kyriakopoulos, Nectarios Triantis, and Georgios Masouras.

The home goalkeeper comfortably dealt with a harmless cross from Italy.

Italy, through Koleosho, are trying to press high up the pitch, while Greece are struggling to build passing combinations.

Greece, with their weapons, are looking for an equalizer. Italy’s solid defense is preventing it.

Italy make another substitution: Luca Reggiani comes on, replacing Pietro Comuzzo, who goes off with discomfort.

The substitutions have given Italy a fresh boost in attack, as they look for a second goal.

After a precise cross, Koleosho struck a somewhat awkward bouncing shot, and the ball hit the crossbar.

The second 45 minutes of the friendly match between Greece and Italy are now underway.

Substitution for Greece: Konstantinos Koulierakis is off and Lazaros Rota is on.

Substitution for Italy: Honest Ahanor and Jeff Ekhator are off, with Filippo Mané and Seydou Fini coming on.

Greece and Italy are playing a modest match, in which the visitors found the only goal of the game so far around the midway point. Stay tuned to Bolavip for live minute-by-minute coverage.

At the end of the first half, Italy lead Greece 1–0 thanks to a goal from Pio Esposito.

Three more minutes of added time are being played.

Koleosho and Bartesaghi are causing problems down the flanks, but with inaccurate crosses.

The match heats up after a clash between Ahanor and Tzolis, quickly defused by the referee.

We are slowly approaching the end of a first half in which goal-scoring chances have been virtually nonexistent.

Pio Esposito, the goalscorer, had another chance, but without posing any real danger. Lipani receives the first yellow card of the match.

The final ten minutes of a first half with few goal-scoring chances are underway.

Donnarumma looks like a mere spectator.

The heat appears to be playing a significant role in the level of play.

The first cooling break of the match is underway. Both coaches are giving instructions.

Greece stick to a 4-4-2 formation and look to hit Italy on the counterattack.

Halfway through the first half, Italy are in control of possession and, at the moment, look like the deserved leaders.

Little from Greece so far.

Esposito received the ball inside the box and, with a right-footed finish, opened the scoring.

Italy take control of the ball, but with harmless backward passes.

Pisilli is the one most willing to shoot from outside the box.

After the first 10 minutes, both teams are still in the early stages of assessment. Italy look more active in attack.

With composure, the home side try to build up slowly. The home fans’ support echoes down from the stands.

Italy are showing early intent to take control of possession.

Ekhator had the first chance, but without clear danger.

After both national anthems were played, Greece and Italy are now underway in this friendly.

Follow the live minute-by-minute coverage here on Bolavip.

Everything is set for the start of the friendly between Greece and Italy. 

The home team will wear blue, while the visitors will be in all white.

For this match, goalkeeper and captain Donnarumma stands out as a key figure, following the major squad overhaul after Italy’s elimination in the latest qualifiers.

Gennaro Gattuso is no longer the head coach either, having resigned after the match against Bosnia.

Both teams are going through their pre-match warm-ups, awaiting the start of the game.

The head-to-head record between the two teams favors Italy. In 12 meetings, the Azzurri have won seven times, with four draws and just one victory for Greece.

The last meeting between the two sides took place on October 12, 2019, in a UEFA European Championship qualifier. On that occasion, Italy secured a 2–0 victory.

Silvio Baldini, manager of the Azzurri, has selected the following starting XI to begin the match:

Gianluigi Donnarumma; Honest Ahanor, Pietro Comuzzo, Fabio Chiarodia, Davide Bartesaghi; Niccolò Pisilli, Luca Lipani, Cher Ndour; Luca Koleosho, Sebastiano Esposito, Jeff Ekhator.

These are the 11 players Ivan Jovanović will send onto the field to start the match:

Odisseas Vlachodimos; Pantelis Hatzidiakos, Konstantinos Koulierakis, Panagiotis Retsos; Giorgos Kyriakopoulos, Georgios Vagiannidis, Christos Mouzakitis, Nectarios Triantis; Christos Tzolis; Giorgos Masouras, Anastasios Douvikas.

The match will be played at Pankritio Stadium in Heraklion. Fans in the United States can watch the game live on Tubi, Amazon Prime Video, Fubo, and ViX.

The officials for this match are all from Israel. Yigal Frid will serve as the referee, assisted by Rostislav Talis and Tuval Koltunoff, while Dimitrios Moschou will be the fourth official. Daniel Bar Natan will oversee VAR duties, with Nati Dotan serving as the assistant VAR (AVAR).

Welcome to another Bolavip live blog, where we’ll bring you minute-by-minute coverage of everything that happens in the international friendly between the Greece and Italy.

Neither of these teams managed to qualify for the next World Cup, so this match could serve as a test for the coaches to try out players and think about what lies ahead.