European Championship C (Men) : 2026

Sat 17th October 2026   - KO  16:00 - Elena Venizelou Stadium, Chania, Crete , Greece
Official: Nectarios Tsakalos (Greece)

Greece

68

FT

14

Half Time
26 - 10

Germany

Tries

Robert TULIATU (14)
Eddie MARKOPOLOUS (19)
Alexandros LINOXYLAKIS (30)
Leon BAKIS (37,59)
Tyrone TSAGALIOS (43,46,52)
Samuel STRATIS (50)
George CHIONIS (55,62)
Alexandros ALIU (68)

Benedikt ESSER (7,75)
Andrew HOGGINS (27)

Goals

Samuel STRATIS (10/12)

Felix RAU (1/2)
Jimmy ADAMS (0/1)

Sinbins

George KAKOURIS (30)
Robert TULIATU (37)

Liam DOUGHTON (37)
Benedikt ESSER (58)

Match Preview: Greece and Germany prepare for Euro C decider in Crete

The men’s Euro C title will be decided in Crete on Saturday afternoon 17 October when Greece take on Germany at the Venizelou Stadium, Chania (kick off 4pm, local time). Greece were narrow two-point winners in Malta last weekend while Germany lost by a point to the Knights, meaning that another Greece victory by any margin will see them crowned while Germany must triumph by two points for them to head the standings.

No outcome can hand Malta the championship, but all three teams could finish on the same points and face relegation to Euro D. It will be the first time Crete has hosted an international with local player Emmanouil Doxastakis in line to make his debut.

“This is great for the game in Crete with both men’s and women’s teams playing on the island and with plans to expand,” said Greece men’s coach Steve Georgallis. “This is going to be a very tough game, Germany were unlucky not to have beaten Malta and we just managed to get the win last weekend.”

Germany head coach, Bob Doughton, commented: “This has turned into a really interesting group. For us there are two possibilities; we either get promoted or we get relegated. You don’t need three guesses to know which one we prefer!”

Note:  17/10/2026 Following request from Nationaler Rugby League Deutschland due to injuries and illness Linus Kurz and Harry Cartwright were withdrawn and replaced with Benjamin Lima and Fabian Wendt with IRL's permission.

Greece (squad): Stefanos ESKIOGLOU, George KAKOURIS (AEK), George CHIONIS (Aris), Samuel STRATIS (Blacktown Workers), Nicholas TULIATU (Cessnock), Kyriakos KAKAVELAKIS, Alexandros LINOXYLAKIS, Nikolas STEPHANOU (Crete), Tyrone TSAGALIOS (Mounties), Timur AGOSTINI-LELAND, Thanos LAMPROU (Panianios), Eddie MARKOPOLOUS (Redcliffe), Alexandros ALIU, Stefanos BASTAS, Aris KOULIZAKIS (Rhodes), Leon BAKIS (Ryde-Eastwood), Robert TULIATU (Salon), William GIOVAS (St Clair), Manos DOXASTAKIS (crete)

Germany (squad): Benedikt ESSER, Florian KAEHLER, Martin TORMANN, Fabian WIKANDER (Bocks), Jimmy ADAMS, Eoin BOWIE, Andrew HOGGINS, Jay KAY, Josh MCCONNELL, Shaun SMITH, George WOOD (German Exiles), Martin APOSTEL (Panthers), Liam DOUGHTON, Sebastian PAASSEN, Angus RITZ-RAHMAN (Ritter), Mawuli AMEFIA, Felix RAU (Trouts), Benjamin LIMA, Fabian WENDT

15 October 2026
1 Tyrone TSAGALIOS
Full Back
George WOOD 1
2 Alexandros LINOXYLAKIS
Right Wing
Jay KAY 2
15 Timur AGOSTINI-LELAND
Right Centre
Andrew HOGGINS 3
4 Samuel STRATIS
Left Centre
Felix RAU 4
5 George CHIONIS
Left Wing
Benedikt ESSER 5
6 Leon BAKIS
Stand Off
Liam DOUGHTON 6
7 Eddie MARKOPOLOUS
Scrum Half
Jimmy ADAMS 7
8 Nicholas TULIATU
Prop
Mawuli AMEFIA 8
9 William GIOVAS
Hooker
Fabian WIKANDER 9
10 Stefanos BASTAS
Prop
Eoin BOWIE 10
11 Stefanos ESKIOGLOU
Second Row
Sebastian PAASSEN 11
3 Alexandros ALIU
Second Row
Shaun SMITH 12
12 Robert TULIATU
Loose Forward
Josh MCCONNELL 13
14 Nikolas STEPHANOU
Int 1
Florian KAEHLER 14
16 George KAKOURIS
Int 2
Martin TORMANN 15
17 Manos DOXASTAKIS
Int 3
Angus RITZ-RAHMAN 16
18 Kyriakos KAKAVELAKIS
Int 4
Martin APOSTEL 17
Reserve 1
Benjamin LIMA 18
Match Report: Greece take Euro C title after 68-14 defeat of Germany

Greece are the 2026 Euro C champions after they proved too strong for Germany, running out 68-14 winners at the Elena Venizelou Stadium in Chania, Crete. The victory means that Greece have been promoted to Euro B for the first time while Germany will return to Euro D next season.

Fullback Tyrone Tsagalias led the way with a hat trick in nine minutes just after the break after to break the German resolve. “The players stuck to the game plan and in the end, we ended up winning comfortably,” said Greece coach Steve Georgallis.

“It was pleasing to see how far our domestic players have come. We have a number of young local players coming through which is great for the game in Greece.”

The visitors opened the scoring when winger Benedikt Esser scored in the seventh minute after Germany elected to run the ball on the last tackle.

Robert Tuliatu responded when he took on the line and stepped over to score minute and five minutes later Eddie Markopoulos went over after a break from Tsagalias, Sam Stratis landing both conversions to make it 12-4.

Germany were back in the contest when centre Alex Hoggins crossed and Felix Rau converted but Crete’s Alex Linoxylakis dived over to score to much home acclaim.

Tsagalias had a try disallowed after George Kakouris was penalised in the lead up, Kakouris then sin binned on the half hour and soon joined by Tuliatu and Germany’s Liam Doughton after a coming together following a try from Leon Bakis.

Leading 22-10 at half-time, Greece went on the rampage in the second half with a powerful wind at their backs. Tsagalias raced 60 metres for a fine score and added another when he linked up with Stratis and George Chionis.

Tsagalias then created space before off-loading for Stratis and went over for his third soon after. The hosts brought up the half century when Chionis spun out of three defenders before racing away to dive over.

Bakis crossed on the hour for his second, Chionis doing likewise and Rhodes Knights player Alex Aliu added a twelfth Greek try.

Esser returned from the sin bin to score his second and a consolation try for Germany.

Germany head coach, Bob Doughton, commented: “It really was a game of two halves, unfortunately we switched off in the second. We have more than proved that we can compete at this level. We just need to do it for 80 minutes. We have learned a lot and will be back.”

17 October 2026