England 2-2 Greece: The Free Kick That Booked a World Cup (2001)
England 2-2 Greece, played at Old Trafford on Saturday 6 October 2001, sent England to the 2002 World Cup and Germany into a play-off. Angelos Charisteas put Greece ahead on 36 minutes and Demis Nikolaidis restored the Greek lead on 69, a minute after substitute Teddy Sheringham had headed England level. David Beckham’s free kick in the third minute of stoppage time rescued the point England needed. Wembley was shut, which is why a home qualifier was played in Manchester.
England needed only a result as good as Germany’s, and until stoppage time they were heading for the play-off instead.
Key Facts
- Played on Saturday 6 October 2001 at Old Trafford, England’s eighth and last match in European Group 9 of qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, in front of 66,090 people.
- England 2-2 Greece. Charisteas 36 and Nikolaidis 69 for the visitors, Sheringham 68 and Beckham on 90+3 for England. Half time: England 0-1 Greece.
- Sheringham replaced Robbie Fowler on 68 minutes and headed the equaliser with his first touch, roughly ten seconds later.
- Sheringham also won the free kick Beckham scored from, and took the assist for it.
- Germany drew 0-0 with Finland in Gelsenkirchen the same afternoon, so a point was enough to take England top of the group.
- The fixture was at Old Trafford because Wembley had closed. The Football Association announced the venue on 9 March 2001.
- Dick Jol of the Netherlands refereed. Nigel Martyn kept goal because David Seaman had withdrawn injured two days earlier.
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Ninety Minutes That Nearly Undid England’s Whole Campaign
A Home Qualifier With No Home to Play It In
England’s last outing at the old Wembley was a 1-0 defeat by Germany on 7 October 2000, Dietmar Hamann scoring on 14 minutes, and they never played there again. What replaced it was not yet a building site. Work on the new stadium did not start until September 2002, and during 2001 the Football Association admitted the project would fail without a Government bail-out. So the team spent a year as lodgers, at Pride Park in Derby, Liverpool for a 2-1 win over Finland, White Hart Lane and St James’ Park. The Football Association had settled on Old Trafford on Friday 9 March 2001.
England reached a World Cup while their own national stadium sat closed, with nobody working on it.
Greece Were Eliminated and Nobody Told Them
Greece arrived with nothing to win. They were fourth in the group, they had lost 5-1 in Finland a month earlier, and England had already won 2-0 in Athens in June. They played as if it mattered for a reason. Otto Rehhagel was new in the job and had to be impressed, and several of the squad had their international futures to protect. Rehhagel had been appointed on 9 August 2001, and Old Trafford was his second match in charge.
The 21-year-old Angelos Charisteas was winning his seventh cap. On 36 minutes Christos Patsatzoglou nutmegged Ashley Cole and whipped in a cross, Rio Ferdinand steered it into Charisteas’s path, and the forward finished low past Nigel Martyn. It was the first goal a Greek player had scored against England from open play. Theo Zagorakis was booked on 14 minutes and replaced by Angelos Basinas on 57.
How England 2-2 Greece Unfolded at Old Trafford
Sven-Goran Eriksson sent on Andy Cole for Nick Barmby at the interval and Teddy Sheringham for Robbie Fowler on 68 minutes. Sheringham, 35 and a Tottenham player back at his former club’s ground, headed the equaliser with his first touch, about ten seconds after crossing the line. It was the quickest goal a substitute had scored for England, beating a mark David Platt set in 1993, and he was also the oldest substitute to have scored for the country. Sixty seconds later Ashley Cole conceded a free kick, Nikos Dabizas escaped Gary Neville at the delivery, and Nikolaidis, given room to turn by Ferdinand, put Greece back in front.
How the afternoon unfolded:
- 8′ Paul Scholes is cautioned for a late tackle on Charisteas, his second booking of the campaign.
- 36′ Angelos Charisteas finishes Patsatzoglou’s cross past Martyn. England 0-1 Greece.
- HT England 0-1 Greece, and the home crowd boos them off.
- 68′ Teddy Sheringham replaces Fowler and heads England level seconds after arriving. England 1-1 Greece.
- 69′ Demis Nikolaidis turns Ferdinand and restores the visitors’ lead. England 1-2 Greece.
- 75′ Beckham drives another free kick into the side netting, one of several he wasted.
- 90+3′ Beckham curls in the free kick Sheringham has just won. England 2-2 Greece.
The Arithmetic Nobody in the Ground Could Ignore
England and Germany had gone into the final round level on 16 points, England six goals better off, so England had only to match whatever Germany managed in Gelsenkirchen. The trap tightened as the afternoon wore on. A defeat here with Germany drawing would hand Germany the group and send England to a play-off, while a late equaliser, with Germany and Finland goalless, would take England through automatically. Paul Scholes had been booked on 8 minutes, his second of the campaign, so a play-off would have started without him.
Beckham spent the afternoon trying to end it himself, missing five long-range free kicks, including the one on 75 minutes that finished in the side netting. Four minutes of added time were signalled. On 92 minutes Sheringham won the free kick roughly 25 yards out, and Beckham’s right foot did the rest. Alan Green called it on the radio: “Up over the wall and in… David Beckham has done it.”
Eriksson said afterwards that he had given up on qualifying, then took it straight back: “Of course. But, of course, you hope until the end of the game.” He also told reporters he had heard the Gelsenkirchen result about thirty seconds before Beckham struck, so the England bench knew a point would do while the free kick was still being lined up.
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points | Goal difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17 | plus 10 |
| Germany | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17 | plus 4 |
| Finland | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 | plus 5 |
| Greece | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | minus 10 |
| Albania | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | minus 9 |
What the Point Was Worth to Both Sides
The 2-2 draw sent England to the finals and Germany to a play-off. There England beat Argentina 1-0 in Sapporo through a Beckham penalty on 44 minutes, against the same opponents he had been sent off against in 1998. Brazil then knocked England out, winning 2-1 in the quarter-final. Germany, sent to the play-off, drew 1-1 in Kyiv, won 4-1 in Dortmund and reached the final in Yokohama, where Brazil beat them 2-0. The side England pipped by six goals got closer to the trophy than England did.
Greece did better than either, and the audition explains it. Fourteen Greeks appeared for the visitors that day. Eight of them, Nikopolidis, Fyssas, Zagorakis, Karagounis, Basinas, Lakis, Nikolaidis and Charisteas, were in the squad that became European champions in 2004, under the same Otto Rehhagel who was two matches into the job in Manchester. Charisteas scored three in six at that tournament, the last of them the goal that beat Portugal in the Lisbon final on 4 July 2004. On 16 August 2006 Greece came back to Old Trafford as European champions and England beat them 4-0.
READ MORE: The fixtures where a single result rewrites everything, in our Football Rivalries series →
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About England 2-2 Greece (2001)
What was the score in England v Greece at Old Trafford on 6 October 2001?
England 2-2 Greece. Angelos Charisteas scored on 36 minutes and Demis Nikolaidis on 69 for Greece, while Teddy Sheringham replied on 68 and David Beckham equalised in the third minute of stoppage time. Half time was England 0-1 Greece. The draw was enough to win European Group 9 and put England into the 2002 World Cup.
Who scored the goals in England 2-2 Greece in 2001?
Teddy Sheringham and David Beckham scored for England, Angelos Charisteas and Demis Nikolaidis for Greece. Charisteas opened the scoring on 36 minutes and Nikolaidis made it 2-1 on 69; Sheringham headed England level on 68 and Beckham equalised with a direct free kick in the third minute of stoppage time.
What minute was David Beckham’s free kick against Greece at Old Trafford?
Stoppage time, three minutes into the four that were signalled. It was virtually the last kick of the match on 6 October 2001, and it settled England’s place at the finals.
Why was England v Greece played at Old Trafford instead of Wembley in 2001?
Because Wembley had shut and nothing had replaced it. England’s last international at the old stadium was the 1-0 defeat by Germany on 7 October 2000, and building work on the new ground did not start until September 2002, a year after this match. The Football Association announced on 9 March 2001 that the final Group 9 qualifier would be staged at Old Trafford.
What did England need from the Greece match on 6 October 2001 to qualify?
A result at least as good as Germany’s. England and Germany were level on 16 points before the final round, with England six goals better off on goal difference, so England needed only to match whatever Germany did against Finland. Germany drew 0-0 in Gelsenkirchen, which made a point at Old Trafford sufficient. A defeat would have sent England into a play-off instead.
How quickly did Teddy Sheringham score after coming on against Greece in 2001?
About ten seconds after he came on, and he needed only one touch. Sheringham replaced Robbie Fowler after 68 minutes and headed in immediately, and it was the quickest goal a substitute had scored for England, beating a mark David Platt set in 1993. Sven-Goran Eriksson said afterwards that a manager hopes to be lucky enough to send on a player who scores after ten seconds. Greece were back in front sixty seconds later.
Who won the free kick that Beckham scored against Greece at Old Trafford?
Teddy Sheringham. He drew the foul on 92 minutes, roughly 25 yards from goal, moments after Antonis Nikopolidis had saved another England free kick, and he took the assist for the goal. Sheringham therefore had a hand in both England goals.
What was the attendance for England 2-2 Greece at Old Trafford in 2001?
66,090. Kick-off was at three o’clock on the Saturday afternoon.
Who refereed England v Greece on 6 October 2001?
Dick Jol of the Netherlands, whose full name is Dirk Zier Gerardus Jol. He showed two yellow cards, to Paul Scholes on 8 minutes for a late tackle on Angelos Charisteas and to the Greece captain Theo Zagorakis on 14 for dissent.
What happened to Germany after the 0-0 draw with Finland on 6 October 2001?
Germany finished second in Group 9 and went into a European play-off. They drew 1-1 away to Ukraine on 10 November 2001 and won 4-1 in Dortmund four days later to reach the finals. They then went further than England, reaching the final in Yokohama, where Brazil beat them 2-0.
Who was Greece’s manager in the 2-2 draw with England in 2001?
Otto Rehhagel, in only his second match in charge. He had been appointed on 9 August 2001 and taken his first match on 5 September 2001, which Greece lost heavily in Finland. The players were out to impress a new manager, which is why a side with nothing to qualify for played as though there was. Rehhagel stayed and won the European Championship with them in 2004.
What happened to Angelos Charisteas after he scored against England in 2001?
He scored the goal that won Greece the European Championship. The Old Trafford strike was his fourth international goal, in his seventh cap at the age of 21, and the winner against Portugal in the Lisbon final on 4 July 2004 was his eleventh. Seven of his team-mates from that Manchester afternoon were also in the 2004 winning squad.
Why was Nigel Martyn in goal for England against Greece in 2001?
David Seaman withdrew injured on 4 October, two days before the match. The cap Seaman missed would have been his 68th, and he had been an ever-present in Eriksson’s competitive matches until then, so Martyn came in for his 18th. Eriksson singled out Martyn’s saves afterwards as very important.
England 2-2 Greece at Old Trafford (2001)
A closed national stadium, a borrowed ground, a side with nothing to play for playing anyway, and a captain who needed six attempts to get one free kick right. England were seconds away from a play-off they had spent a year making unnecessary. For more nights when it came down to the final kick, keep exploring our On This Day series, and our films on football’s fiercest rivalries.
Sources: RSSSF, The Guardian, The Observer, England Football Online, 11v11, englandstats.com, BBC Sport, Construction News.
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