The is the national
Football team of
Greece and is controlled by the
Hellenic Football Federation .
Greece's first appearance in a major tournament was the
1980 European Championship , but their first win in a major tournament did not come until the first match of , a 2-1 win over the hosts
Portugal . The Greeks went on to win the tournament, stunning defending champions
France in the quarterfinals and the heavily favored
Czech Republic in the semifinals before beating Portugal a second time, 1-0, in the final.
Bookmaker s were giving odds of about 80-1 to 150-1 for the Greeks before the tournament.
Greece made their first appearance in a major tournament at the 1980 European Championship in
Italy . At Euro 80, Greece were drawn into group A with
West Germany ,
Netherlands , and
Czechoslovakia . Upon qualifying, Greece were not expected to make an impact. In their first game with the Netherlands, Greece held the Dutch 0-0 until halftime. However the Dutch eventualy won the game 1-0. Three days later Greece played Czechoslovakia in
Rome . After a 1-1 first half, Greece eventually fell 1-3. In their last game, Greece earned a 0-0 respectable draw against West Germany. Greece were eliminated with one point from a draw and two losses.
After appearing in Euro 80, Greece did not qualify for a major tournament in fourteen years.
Greece qualified for World Cup 1994 in the
USA for the first time. They finished first in their
Qualifying Group surpassing
Russia . In the final tournament Greece were drawn into group D with
Nigeria ,
Bulgaria , and
Argentina . After having a successful qualifing campaign, Greece were determined to make an impact. In their first game against Argentina, Greece lost 4-0. Four days later Greece suffered another 4-0 blow from Bulgaria. In their final game Greece again lost to Nigeria 2-0. In the end, Greece were eliminated in the first round losing all three games and scoring no goals and receiving 10, making one of the worst records in the history of World Cup.
Greece failed to qualify for
Euro 96 . In their
World Cup 1998 Qualifing Tournment Greece were only one point away from qualifying tournament in
France behind
Croatia the second place. In their
Euro 2000 Qualifiyng group, Greece finished again in third, two points behind second place finishers
Slovenia . In the
2002 World Cup Qualifying Greece finished fourth.
Greece made it to Euro 2004 after surpassing
Spain in their
Qualifying group. In the final tournament Greece were drawn in to Group A with Spain, Portugal, and Russia. In the opening match against Portugal, Greece achieved a suprise victory by beating Portugal 2-1. After this win, the team was nicknamed "the pirate ship" by Greek sportscaster George Helakis. The nickname was inspired by the opening ceremony, which was held just before the game, and involved a pirate ship floating on the football field. Greece were portayed as the pirates who surprised the opponents and "stole" the win from their hands, a theme that would repeat itself throughout the tournament. Four days later Greece stunned Spain to a 1-1 draw. In the last group game, Greece were defeated by Russia 2-1. Greece however took second place over Spain on goal difference. In the quarterfinals Greece faced off with the reigning champions France. At 65 minutes Greece took the lead with a header from Charisteas and held on to win, knocking France out of the Euro 2004. Greece reached the semifinals for the first time to face the Czech Republic. After 90 minutes the game ended 0-0. In the first half of extra time, a close range header from Dellas ended the Czech campaign, puting Greece in the final of Euro 2004. The final was a repeat of the opening game between Greece and Portugal. In the 57th minute
Angelos Charisteas gave Greece the lead with a header. Greece held on to win Euro 2004 creating one of the biggest shocks in football history.
Greece's victory shot them up in the
FIFA World Rankings from 35th in
June 2004 to 14th in
July 2004. This is believed to be the largest upward move in a single month in the top echelon of the rankings; there have been larger single month moves considerably further down the table.
The triumph of Greece at Euro 2004 is the biggest sporting achievement in the country's history. The team has appeared on stamps and received medals from the
President Of Greece , the
Archbishop Of Athens , and an ecstatic ovation from the country's population which came out to see the team and the trophy from the Athens airport to the
Panathinaiko Stadium where the Greek political and religious leadership was awaiting them.
The Euro 2004 winners were selected as World Team of the Year at the
2005 Laureus World Sports Awards .
After winning the Euro 2004, Greece were drawn in to Group 2 with
Ukraine ,
Turkey ,
Denmark ,
Albania ,
Georgia , and
Kazakhstan . In their very first qualifier Greece lost to Albania 2-1. Greece later drew with Turkey, Ukraine, and defeated Kazakhstan. On
Feb 9 ,
2005 Greece defeated Denmark 2-1 to take second place, greatly increasing chances of qualification. Later wins against Georgia and Albania and draw with Turkey also increased these chances. However on
June 8 , 2005 tragady spelled as Ukraine defeated Greece. Greece later defeated Kazakhstan 2-1 scoring at 89 minutes. On
October 8 , 2005, further tragedy spelled for Greece as they were defeated 1-0 by Denmark in
Copenhagen . In their last game, Greece soundly defeated Georgia but failed to qualify for Germany 2006.
Greece were the highest ranked seed in the 'pots' for qualification to
2008 European Football Championship in
Switzerland and Austria. Being so, Greece drew Turkey,
Norway ,
Bosnia And Herzegovina ,
Hungary ,
Moldova and
Malta . This is the only group without a team which qualified for the World Cup 2006.
Greece uses for home matches the
Karaiskakis Stadium (
Olympiacos ' stadium) since they became European Champions. They used that stadium for all home matches of World Cup 2006 qualifying round.
In the past, Greece used several other stadiums like
Kaftantzoglio , Olympic Stadium (Athens),
Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium , e.t.c.. For Euro2004 qualifying round- when Greece won the trophy- Greece used the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium (
Panathinaikos ' stadium) for home for all the matches. In 1990s, most times they used the Athens Olympic Stadium. Olympic Stadium was used as home for Greece also in World Cup 2002 qualifying.
- 1930 - ''Did not enter''
- 1934 - ''Withdrew during qualifying''
- 1938 - ''Did not qualify''
- 1950 - ''Did not enter''
- 1954 to 1990 - ''Did not qualify''
- 1994 - Round 1
- 1998 to 2006 - ''Did not qualify''
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Ioannis Kalafatis ,
1920
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Apostolos Nikolaidis ,
1929
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Jan Kopsiva , 1929-30
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Svejik ,
1930
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Jan Kopsiva , 1930
1930-31 "Τεχνική Επιτροπή"
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Lefteris Panourgias ,
1932
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Kostas Negrepontis ,
1933 -34
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Apostolos Nikolaidis ,
1934 -35
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Kostas Konstantaras ,
1935
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Kischler ,
1936
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Kostas Konstantaras , 1936
1937 None
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Kostas Negrepontis ,
1938
1939-47 None
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Kostas Negrepontis ,
1948 -
50
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Antonis Migiakis ,
1951
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Ioannis Chelmis , 1951
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Nikos Katrantzos , 1951
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K. Negrepontis & A. Migiagis ,
1952
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Antonis Migiakis , 1952-53
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Kostas Negrepontis ,
1953
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Ioannis Chelmis ,
1954
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Antonis Migiakis , 1954-55
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Ioannis Chelmis ,
1955
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Kostas Andritsos ,
1956
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Rino Martini ,
1957 -58
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Antonis Migiakis ,
1958
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Paul Barone ,
1959 -60
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Tryfonas Tzanetis ,
1960 -61
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Antonis Migiakis ,
1961
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Tryfonas Tzanetis ,
1962 -64
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Lakis Petropoulos & Ioannis Magiras ,
1964 -65
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Panos Markovits , 1966-67
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Lakis Petropoulos ,
1967
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Kostas Karapatis ,
1968
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Dan Georgiadis , 1968-69
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Lakis Petropoulos ,
1969 -71
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Bily Bingham ,
1971 -73
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Alketas Panagoulias ,
1973 -76
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Lakis Petropoulos ,
1976 -77
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Alketas Panagoulias ,
1977 -
81
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Christos Archontidis ,
1982 -84
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Miltos Papapostolou ,
1984 -88
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Alekos Sofianidis ,
1988 -89
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Antonis Georgiadis ,
1989 -91
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Stefanos Petritsis ,
1992
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Antonis Georgiadis , 1992
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Alketas Panagoulias , 1992-94
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Kostas Polychroniou ,
1994 -98
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Anghel Iordanescu ,
1998 -99
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Vassilis Daniil ,
1999 -2001
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Nikos Christidis ,
2001
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Otto Rehhagel ,
05/09 /2001 -
