Greece national under-21 football team
The Greece national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Greece and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years.
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| Nickname(s) | Εθνική Ελπίδων ("National team of Hopes") | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Hellenic Football Federation | |||
| Head coach | Nikos Papadopoulos | |||
| Captain | Konstantinos Tzolakis | |||
| Most caps | Giorgos Karagounis (39) | |||
| Top scorer | Nikos Liberopoulos & Lampros Choutos (15) | |||
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| Biggest win | ||||
 Greece 6–0 Luxembourg  (Greece; 1993) Greece 6–0 Latvia  (Greece; 1999) | ||||
| Biggest defeat | ||||
 Hungary 7–0 Greece .svg.png.webp){kind=small} (Hungary; 1976) | ||||
| UEFA U-21 Championship | ||||
| Appearances | 4 (first in 1988) | |||
| Best result | Runners-up, 1988, 1998 | |||
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The under-21 competition rules stipulate that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, so technically it is up to an U-23 competition. To be eligible for the Greece National Team, all the football players must hold Hellenic (Greek) nationality and comply with the provisions of Article 15 of the regulations governing the Application of FIFA Statutes. A list of 35 football players must be submitted to the UEFA administration 30 days before the European Under-21 Football Championship opening match. Only 22 of the 35 players listed are authorised to take part in the final tournament and 3 of them must be goalkeepers.
As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U-21s, senior side and again for the U-21s, as Sotiris Ninis has done recently. It is also possible to play more than one country at youth level or different at youth level and different at senior level (provided the player is eligible). But a football player can represent only the senior national team that capped him first.
Also in existence are national teams for Under-20s (for non-UEFA tournaments), Under-19s and Under-17s. Greece also has a women's national team.
History
The first time that Greece's national team of hopes were formed was in 1968, with the aim of participating in the first Balkan Youth Championship that took place at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki.
In their maiden match she played with the corresponding team in Turkey; the match ended in a goalless draw.
The first eleven were the following: Tourkomenis, B. Intzoglou (59' Dimitriou), Chaliambalias, Kyriazis, Athanasopoulos, Karafeskos, Filakouris, Sarafis (46' Stoligas), K. Papaioannou, Koudas, Kritikopoulos (70' Alexiadis).
In the following years, Greece won twice the Balkan Youth Championship (1969 and 1971), and they fought twice (1988 and 1998) in the final of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
Competition Record
As of 23 September 2022
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA U-21 Championship | 239 | 109 | 45 | 85 |
UEFA European Under-21 Championship Record
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
| 1978 | Did not qualify |
| 1980 | Did not qualify |
| 1982 | Did not qualify |
| 1984 | Did not qualify |
| 1986 | Did not qualify |
| 1988 |  |
| 1990 | Did not qualify |
| 1992 | Did not qualify |
 1994 | Quarter finalist |
 1996 | Did not qualify |
 1998 | |
 2000 | Play-Off for Final Tournament |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 2002 | Quarter finalist |
 2004 | Did not qualify |
 2006 | Did not qualify |
 2007 | Did not qualify |
 2009 | Did not qualify |
 2011 | Play-Off for Final Tournament |
 2013 | Did not qualify |
 2015 | Did not qualify |
 2017 | Did not qualify |
  2019 | Play-Off for Final Tournament |
 2021 | Did not qualify |
 2023 | Did not qualify |
| 2025 | To be determined |
| Total | 4/23 |
Honours
- Balkan Youth Championship
Winners (2): 1969, 1971
- Valeriy Lobanovskyi Memorial Tournament
Third place (2):, 2015, 2018
Results and schedule
The following is a list of match results from the previous 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2023
| 12 September 2023 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Andorra  | 0–1 | Greece | Andorra la Vella, Andorra |
| 18:00 | Report |
|
Stadium: Estadi Nacional Attendance: 506 Referee: Jamie Robinson (Northern Ireland) |
| 13 October 2023 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Greece | 2–2 |  Croatia | Tripoli, Greece |
| 17:00 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium Attendance: 1,250 Referee: Tom Owen (Wales) |
| 17 October 2023 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Portugal | 2–0 | Greece | Guimarães, Portugal |
| 20:00 (19:00 WEST) |
|
Report | Stadium: Estádio D. Afonso Henriques Attendance: 2,231 |
| 16 November 2023 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Greece | 3–0 |  Faroe Islands | Tripoli, Greece |
| 15:00 (16:00 EEST) |
|
Report | Stadium: Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium Attendance: 250 Referee: Mervan Bejtullahu (Kosovo) |
2024
| 22 March 2024 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Belarus  | 1–0 | Greece | Armavir, Armenia |
| 15:30 (13:30 EEST) |
|
Report | Stadium: Armavir City Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Marian Barbu (Romania) |
| 26 March 2024 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Greece | 1–0 | Andorra | Tripoli, Greece |
| 16:00 |
|
Report | Stadium: Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium Referee: Luka Bilbija (Bosnia and Herzegovina) |
| 10 September 2024 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Faroe Islands | v | Greece |
Euro 2025 Under-21 Championship qualification
2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |
|
|
|
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal |
7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 4 | +22 | 18 | Final tournament | — | 2–0 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 6–1 | 3–0 | |
| 2 | Greece |
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 14 | Play-offs | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | |
| 3 | Croatia |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 13 | 10 Sep '24 | 15 Oct '24 | — | 5 Sep '24 | 2–0 | 11 Oct '24 | ||
| 4 | Faroe Islands |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 15 | −7 | 7 | 11 Oct '24 | 10 Sep '24 | 2–4 | — | 15 Oct '24 | 2–2 | ||
| 5 | Belarus (E) |
9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 19 | −13 | 6 | 0–5 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | — | 0–0 | ||
| 6 | Andorra (E) |
8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 3 | 15 Oct '24 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — |
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated
Coaching staff
Managers
The following table provides a summary of the complete record of each Greece team manager including their results regarding European Under-21 Championship.
- Key: Pld–games played, W–games won, D–games drawn; L–games lost, %–win percentage
| Manager | Greece tenure | Pld | W | D | L | Win % | Major competitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stelios Aposporis |
2004–2007 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 50.0 |  2006 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2007 European Championship – Failed to qualify |
| Nikos Nioplias |
2007–2009 | 19 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 47.4 | 2009 European Championship – Failed to qualify |
| Georgios Georgiadis |
2010–2012 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 52.6 | 2011 European Championship – Play-offs 2013 European Championship – Failed to qualify |
| Kostas Tsanas |
2012–2015 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 50.0 | 2015 European Championship – Failed to qualify |
| Michalis Iordanidis |
2015 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | — |
| Antonis Nikopolidis |
2015–2019 | 33 | 16 | 5 | 12 | 48.5 | 2017 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2019 European Championship – Play-offs |
| Giannis Goumas |
2019–2021 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 33.3 | 2021 European Championship – Failed to qualify |
| Georgios Simos |
2021–2022 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 50.0 | 2023 European Championship – Failed to qualify |
| Nikos Papadopoulos |
2022– | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | — |
| Totals | |||||||
Last updated: 23 September 2022. Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only.
Players
Current squad
- As of 26 March 2024
The following players were called for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Belarus on 22 March 2024 and Andorra on 26 March 2024.[1]
Names in italics denote players who have been capped for the senior team.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Konstantinos Tzolakis (captain) | 8 November 2002 | 21 | 0 | Olympiacos |
| 12 | GK | Konstantinos Balomenos | 11 March 2002 | 2 | 0 | PAOK B |
| 13 | GK | Nikos Grammatikakis | 26 May 2003 | 0 | 0 | Asteras Tripolis |
| 3 | DF | Vangelis Keramidas | 12 September 2002 | 0 | 0 | Olympiacos B |
| 4 | DF | Panagiotis Panagiotou | 16 January 2002 | 8 | 0 | PAOK B |
| 5 | DF | Apostolos Konstantopoulos | 2 August 2002 | 11 | 0 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Beerschot |
| 19 | DF | Alexis Kalogeropoulos | 26 July 2004 | 1 | 0 | Volos |
| 20 | DF | Konstantinos Chrysopoulos | 21 May 2003 | 4 | 0 | AEK |
| 22 | DF | Argyris Darelas | 16 October 2003 | 7 | 0 | PAOK B |
| 23 | DF | Apostolos Apostolopoulos | 11 December 2002 | 3 | 0 | Olympiacos B |
| DF | Fotis Kitsos | 31 March 2003 | 12 | 0 | Volos | |
| DF | Nikolaos Kanellopoulos | 10 January 2003 | 0 | 0 | AEK B | |
| 2 | MF | Thanasis Karamanis | 14 October 2003 | 2 | 0 | Atromitos |
| 6 | MF | Dimitrios Metaxas | 16 December 2003 | 9 | 0 |  AC Oulu |
| 8 | MF | Christos Kourfalidis | 11 November 2002 | 11 | 0 | Feralpisalò |
| 10 | MF | Vasilios Sourlis | 16 November 2002 | 18 | 3 | Asteras Tripolis |
| 11 | MF | Nikos Zouglis | 14 November 2003 | 7 | 1 | Asteras Tripolis |
| 14 | MF | Marios Sofianos | 24 November 2003 | 3 | 0 | Panserraikos |
| 16 | MF | Michalis Panagidis | 11 February 2004 | 4 | 1 | Aris Thessaloniki |
| 17 | MF | Titos Koutentakis | 22 August 2003 | 0 | 0 | OFI |
| 18 | MF | Giannis Apostolakis | 24 September 2004 | 2 | 0 | OFI |
| 21 | MF | Christos Kryparakos | 12 June 2003 | 10 | 0 | Panathinaikos B |
| MF | Christos Belevonis | 29 July 2002 | 6 | 0 | Panetolikos | |
| 7 | FW | Stefanos Tzimas | 6 January 2006 | 2 | 0 | PAOK |
| 9 | FW | Michalis Kosidis | 9 February 2002 | 10 | 2 | VVV-Venlo |
| FW | Giannis Niarchos | 26 June 2002 | 7 | 0 | Zemplín Michalovce | |
Former squads
- 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads – Greece
- 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads – Greece
- 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads – Greece
See also
- Greece national football team
- Greece national under-23 football team
- Greece national under-20 football team
- Greece national under-19 football team
- Greece national under-17 football team
References
- "Εθνική Ελπίδων: η αποστολή για Λευκορωσία και Ανδόρα". epo.gr. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
External links
- Greece U-21 at HFF (in Greek)
- Greece U-21 at UEFA
- UEFA European U-21 Championship at uefa.com
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