Greece 3 Northern Ireland 1

Northern Ireland managed to retain their Nations League third-tier status despite a dismal 3-1 defeat by Greece.

National team wins its group and gets promoted to the Nations League second division

A goalkeeping error from Bailey Peacock-Farrell gifted Dimitris Pelkas an early opener but Shayne Lavery equalised three minutes later.

Giorgos Masouras slotted home to restore Greece’s advantage and Petros Mantalos blasted in the third.

After ending a 14-game winless Nations League run with victory over Kosovo in Belfast on Saturday, Northern Ireland went into Tuesday’s match in Athens knowing that they would avoid a relegation play-off if they matched or bettered the Cypriots’ result.

However, the defeat means Baraclough’s men face the prospect of dropping into pot five of the Euro 2024 qualifiers that get underway next year.

Greece will not be in the World Cup this November, but it will have the sweet taste of promotion to the second tier of the Nations League where it will face considerably better opponents.