The Hellenic Football Federation is in charge of the Greece national football team (Greek: Ethniki Elladas), which competes for Greece in international competitions for men’s teams. Greece’s home stadiums are the Olympic Stadium in Athens’ Marousi neighbourhood and the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, located in the Attica region. Only ten other national teams can say they have won the UEFA European Championship, and Greece is one of them.
Greece’s influence on international soccer was minimal. The 1980s provided a sampling, but not a feast, of football success for them. Their first big competition was the 1980 UEFA European Championship, and they were eliminated in the group stage and never advanced.
Their qualifying for the games, which at the time only included eight teams, placed them among the top eight European football countries that year. The next time Greece would qualify for a significant event would be the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Although unbeaten in qualification, they would perform poorly in the tournament, losing all three of their group matches without scoring. Until 2004, Greece’s national football squad was considered one of the worst in all European football.
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship was the pinnacle of Greece’s footballing career, as the team won the title despite being just the second Greek team to ever compete in a European Championship competition. Despite being written off as longshots, Greece won the European Championship after shocking pre-tournament favourites like France and the hosts, Portugal.
Greece won both the tournament’s opening game and the championship game, which were played against the hosts. The team’s victory qualified them for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.
In the decade after their 2004 World Cup triumph, Greece advanced to the finals of all but one major event they attended, including the UEFA Euro 2012 quarterfinals and the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup of 2014. The FIFA Greece rank is in the top 20 in FIFA’s global rankings for all but four months during that span, and their best-ever finish was eighth in the world in April through June of 2008 and again in October of 2011.
Greece National Team: Design and Kits
The Greek flag’s blue and white became Greece’s national colours, and home colours have changed from blue to white since UEFA Euro 2004. Greek soccer players often wear an all-white shirt, shorts, socks, or an all-blue outfit. The uniforms used to alternate between blue jerseys and white shorts and white jerseys and blue shorts. Greece’s uniforms have fluctuated between solid blue and blue with white stripes or crosses.
Greece’s current official supplier is the American sportswear company Nike, which was confirmed on April 10 2013. The team debuted their new uniforms on June 7 2013, during a road match against Lithuania.
Greece debuted their new shirt for the 2014 FIFA World Cup on March 4. The team’s official emblem is the crest (o meaning “national sign”), which is featured prominently on the uniform.
Recent History of Greece National Team
- Nation’s League, 2020–21
Greece had to begin its bid to be promoted after being kept in League C owing to poor performance. Greece, which was placed in a group alongside Slovenia, Kosovo, and Moldova, opened with a dismal goalless away draw against Slovenia before earning a crucial 2-1 away victory over Kosovo and taking over the first position for the first time in the tournament.
Greece needed a win over Slovenia in their last game to earn promotion to League B after two 2-0 victories over Moldova and a goalless home draw versus Kosovo. Despite being unblemished and allowing just one goal, Greece could not advance for the second consecutive time due to the scoreless tie.
- Qatar’s World Cup Qualifying in 2022
Greece has been placed in Group B for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifications after failing to qualify for a significant event for the last three consecutive years. The season opened with a surprising 1-1 road tie against the group favourites Spain and continued with 1-1 home and away draws against Georgia and Kosovo.
The team’s qualifying chances remained alive with a 2-1 victory at home against Sweden and a 2-0 road victory over Georgia. Greece played well in the first half of their critical road encounter in Stockholm, but they fell to Sweden 2-0. Loss No. 2, this time at home, 1-0 against the group champions. Spain confirmed Greece’s elimination from the finals, and their 1-1 home draw against Kosovo was the last game of the season.
- UEFA Nations League for 2022–2023
Galanolefki, coached by Gus Poyet, got off to a terrific start in Group C2 of the 2022-23 tournament, with victories of 0-1 on the road against Northern Ireland and Kosovo and 3-0 at home against Cyprus. After beating Kosovo 2-0 at home, the Galanolefki were promoted to League B thanks to Giakoumakis and Mantalos, the latter of which was scored with the last kick of the game.
Final Words
These are all the essential details you need to know about the Greece national team for FIFA and Greece’s rank in the FIFA team rankings.
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