Nations League: England understudies overpower Greece, Italy and France in quarter-finals

France draw with Israel amid tension and high security in and around Paris

England's forward Ollie Watkins, centre, celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Nations League match against Greece in Athens. AFP

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England overcame the absence of a number of star players as they defeated Greece 3-0 to keep alive their hopes of Nations League promotion.

Goals from Ollie Watkins, an own goal by the Greeks and a late flick from Curtis Jones on his debut gave England a comfortable victory and put them on 12 points from five matches. They are ahead of Greece, who beat them 2-1 in London last month, on goal difference.

England captain Harry Kane was surprisingly benched by interim boss Lee Carsley just 24 hours after his scathing response to the rash of withdrawals from England's squad.

Kane said international duty should "come before anything" amid suggestions several had been persuaded by their club managers to pull out to avoid injuries at a busy time of the season.

Cole Palmer, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Levi Colwill, Aaron Ramsdale and even Jarrad Branthwaite, who was a late call-up, all opted to withdraw from Carsley's squad.

But the star names weren't missed as England's reserves powered to victory.

England moved above Greece on goal difference and will be guaranteed to win promotion to Nations League A if they beat Ireland at Wembley on Sunday.

If England finish second in the group, they go into a promotion play-off against one of the third-placed League A sides next year.

That will be of particular interest to Thomas Tuchel, the incoming England manager.

Tuchel agreed an 18-month contract to become the permanent successor to Gareth Southgate in October, but the former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss is not due to start until January 1.

Carsley said the team was pleased to have a vast array of quality players that former Bayern Munich boss Tuchel will inherit when he takes the reins.

"It is just important the players play to their strengths. We have got a lot of outstanding talent," Carsley said.

"The players who were not here, we concentrated on the ones that were. We spoke yesterday about players getting an opportunity, and we have seen that tonight.

"People were speaking about the inexperience within the squad, but these players play week in and week out in the Premier League at a really high level."

France and Italy qualify

France and Italy qualified for the quarter-final stage of the revamped Nations League on Thursday.

France drew 0-0 with Israel in a match that required a high-security operation in and around Paris, a week after violence erupted in Amsterdam during Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Europa League match. Around 150 Israel supporters were among a crowd of 16,000 inside the 80,000-capacity Stade de France and there was a brief scuffle between some fans at one point in the first half.

The draw was enough to secure France a top-two finish in their group along with Italy, who beat Belgium 1-0 away thanks to Sandro Tonali's 11th-minute goal.

They advance to the quarter-finals in March, from which the lineup of the Final Four mini-tournament in June will be determined. Germany and Spain were the first two nations to qualify for the last eight in October.

France coach Didier Deschamps expressed disappointment after the draw, acknowledging his team could have performed better.

"I can't be satisfied with what we produced. We should have won. We’re capable of doing better," Deschamps said after the match.

"We could have done more against an opponent that was very compact and wasted a lot of time. We had the chances to win, but we weren’t efficient enough. There was much more energy in the second half, but we still couldn’t score."

France will face Italy at the San Siro in Milan on Sunday in the next Nations League clash, with Deschamps unsure of his lineup.

"I don’t know. I need to take stock. Honestly, I can’t answer that right now. There will definitely be some changes," he said.