Kazakhstan U19 vs Greece U19

Greece took control shortly past the half-hour mark. Nikolaos Avramoulis opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, finishing from a Panagiotis Kainourgiakis assist. Dimitrios Berdos doubled the lead four minutes before half-time, sending Greece into the break 2-0 up.

The match tilted decisively within seven minutes of the restart. Alexandros Aretis made it 3-0 in the 50th minute, converting a delivery from Savvas Ioannou, and Berdos struck again just two minutes later — his second of the night making it 4-0.

Kazakhstan refused to fold. Ilyas Bekbolat pulled one back in the 77th minute, and Arman Smakov — who had been introduced as a substitute in the 57th minute — added a second in the 84th minute, assisted by Vladislav Laturnus. But the damage was done: Greece held firm through the closing stages to secure the win.

Greece's rapid double at the start of the second half — Aretis in the 50th minute, Berdos in the 52nd — turned a comfortable lead into an unassailable one. Kazakhstan had conceded twice in the first half and were still reorganising at the interval; the quick succession of goals after the restart effectively ended the contest inside the opening 10 minutes of the second period.

Dimitrios Berdos was the standout player, scoring either side of half-time (41', 52') to give Greece its biggest margin of the match. His movement in the box and sharp finishing were the difference between a narrow win and a commanding one.

Alexandros Aretis (50') followed up his first-half substitution by scoring 12 minutes into the second half, part of the burst that broke Kazakhstan's resistance.

Ilyas Bekbolat and Arman Smakov ensured Kazakhstan's attacking effort — 21 total attempts according to UEFA's match statistics — did not go unrewarded, each scoring in the final 13 minutes.

UEFA's official match statistics show a lopsided shot count: Kazakhstan attempted 21 shots to Greece's 10, yet the visitors won 4-2. That disparity tells the story of the match. Greece converted 40% of their attempts into goals, while Kazakhstan — despite outshooting their opponents by more than two to one — did not find the net until the 77th minute, by which point the game was already decided. Kazakhstan also had more corners (2-1) and committed two yellow cards to Greece's none, but neither side received a red card. The underlying numbers point to a contest in which Greece's efficiency in the final third trumped Kazakhstan's volume.

This was the final round of Group A6 in the first stage of the new three-round qualifying format for the 2027 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (finals in Czechia). Greece, Portugal and Kazakhstan all secured their places in League A for the second round, while Serbia — who lost 1-0 to Portugal on the same day — were relegated to League B. For Greece, the victory provided a positive finish to the group stage and confirmed their status in the higher tier ahead of the autumn round.

A game defined by clinical finishing rather than territorial dominance. Greece took their chances ruthlessly in a 20-minute spell from the 32nd to the 52nd minute, scoring four goals from a modest number of attempts. Kazakhstan created enough to have earned a closer result, but their finishing arrived too late. The performance underlined the margin between the two sides at this level: composure in front of goal.