Greece national under-21 football team

Greece Under-21
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Εθνική Ελπίδων
("National team of Hopes")
AssociationHellenic Football Federation
Head coachGiannis Taousianis
CaptainGeorgios Koutsias
Most capsGiorgos Karagounis (39)
Top scorerNikos Liberopoulos &
Lampros Choutos (15)
First colours
Second colours
Biggest win
Greece Greece 6–0 Luxembourg Luxembourg
(Greece; 1993)
Greece Greece 6–0 Latvia Latvia
(Greece; 1999)
Biggest defeat
Hungary Hungary 7–0 Greece Greece
(Hungary; 1976)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances4 (first in 1988)
Best resultRunners-up, 1988, 1998
Greece U-21 team on 5 September 2011

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.

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-23 Championship 14 6 0 8
UEFA U-21 Championship 212 100 35 77

UEFA European U23 Championship record

UEFA European U21 Championship record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA GD Pld W D L GF GA GD
1972 Semi-finals 3rd/4th 4 2 0 2 7 5 +2 2 2 0 0 3 0 +3
1974 Did not qualify 4 1 0 3 4 7 −3
1976 4 1 0 3 4 9 −5
Total 0 titles 1/3 4 2 0 2 7 5 +2 10 4 0 6 11 16 −5

UEFA European U21 Championship record

UEFA European U21 Championship record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA GD Pld W D L GF GA GD
1978 Did not qualify 4 0 1 3 1 13 −12
1980 4 2 0 2 5 6 −1
1982 4 0 1 3 2 7 −5
1984 6 3 2 1 6 4 +2
1986 4 2 0 2 6 8 −2
1988 Final Runners-up 6 1 3 2 8 8 0 6 4 1 1 15 5 +10
1990 Did not qualify 6 1 1 4 3 11 −8
1992 6 1 1 4 6 13 −7
France 1994 Quarter-finals 6th 2 0 1 1 2 4 −2 8 6 2 0 23 6 +17
Spain 1996 Did not qualify 8 3 0 5 12 12 0
Romania 1998 Final Runners-up 3 2 0 1 4 1 +3 10 6 1 3 16 11 +5
Slovakia 2000 Did not qualify 12 8 2 2 33 13 +20
Switzerland 2002 Group stage 8th 3 0 1 2 3 6 −3 10 6 1 3 18 8 +10
Germany 2004 Did not qualify 8 3 3 2 10 7 +3
Portugal 2006 12 6 2 4 18 9 +9
Netherlands 2007 2 0 0 2 1 4 −3
Sweden 2009 10 5 3 2 20 13 +7
Denmark 2011 10 6 1 3 13 12 +1
Israel 2013 10 4 1 5 14 15 −1
Czech Republic 2015 8 5 0 3 20 10 +10
Poland 2017 10 4 1 5 13 14 −1
ItalySan Marino 2019 12 8 1 3 26 7 +19
HungarySlovenia 2021 10 5 1 4 10 11 −1
RomaniaGeorgia (country) 2023 10 5 2 3 16 10 +6
Slovakia 2025 10 7 1 2 20 14 +6
Total 0 titles 4/24 14 3 5 6 17 19 −2 198 97 30 71 319 236 +83

Honours

Third (1): 1972
Runner-ups (2): 1988, 1998
  • Balkan Youth Championship
Winners (2): 1969, 1971
  • Valeriy Lobanovskyi Memorial Tournament
Third (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.

2024

10 September 2024 (2024-09-10) 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G Faroe Islands  0–4   Klaksvík, Faroe Islands
17:30 (19:30 EEST) Report
  • Kourfalidis 13'
  • Kostis 22'
  • Koutsias 51'
  • Niarchos 65'
 Stadium: Við Djúpumýrar
Attendance: 253
Referee: Jasper Vergoote (Belgium)
11 October 2024 (2024-10-11) Friendly Slovakia  2–1   Nitra, Slovakia
15:30 (16:30 EEST)
  • Gajdoš 56'
  • Javorček 88' (pen.)
 Report
  • Kostoulas 84'
 Stadium: Štadión pod Zoborom
Referee: Balázs Berke (Hungary)
15 October 2024 (2024-10-15) 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G Croatia  3–2   Koprivnica, Croatia
18:00 (19:00 EEST)
  • Kačavenda 15'
  • Beljo 34'
  • Vušković 76'
 Report
  • Kostoulas 45+3'
  • Bakoulas 45+4'
 Stadium: Ivan Kušek-Apaš City Stadium
Referee: Sandi Putros (Denmark)
19 November 2024 (2024-11-19) Friendly   1–1  Hungary Serres, Greece
16:00 EEST
Report
  • Klausz 32'
 Stadium: Serres Municipal Stadium

2025

21 March 2025 (2025-03-21) Friendly   0–0  Albania Serres, Greece
17:00 Report Stadium: Serres Municipal Stadium
25 March 2025 (2025-03-25) Friendly  Bulgaria 1–1   Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
18:00
  • Rupanov 6'
 Report
  • Alexiou 87'
 Stadium: Stadio Hristo Botev
4 June 2025 (2025-06-04) Friendly  Serbia 2–3   Loznica, Serbia
19:00
  • Vlahović 20', 55'
 Report
  • Kyriopoulos 7'
  • Koutsias 21'
  • Papakanellos 90+4'
 Stadium: Lagator Stadium
9 September 2025 (2025-09-09) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F  Malta v  
Report
10 October 2025 (2025-10-10) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F  Germany v  
Report
14 October 2025 (2025-10-14) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F  Latvia v  
Report
14 November 2025 (2025-11-14) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F   v  Georgia
Report
18 November 2025 (2025-11-18) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F   v  Northern Ireland
Report

2026

27 March 2026 (2026-03-27) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F   v  Malta
Report
31 March 2026 (2026-03-31) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F   v  Germany
Report
26 September 2026 (2026-09-26) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F  Georgia v  
Report
1 October 2026 (2026-10-01) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F   v  Latvia
Report
6 October 2026 (2026-10-06) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F  Northern Ireland v  
Report

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 10 9 0 1 33 6 +27 27 Final tournament — 5–1 2–0 4–0 6–1 3–0
2  Croatia 10 7 1 2 20 14 +6 22 Play-offs 0–2 — 3–2 2–1 2–0 2–0
3   10 5 2 3 16 10 +6 17 2–1 2–2 — 3–0 1–1 1–0
4  Faroe Islands 10 3 1 6 11 24 −13 10 1–3 2–4 0–4 — 1–0 2–2
5  Belarus 10 1 3 6 6 20 −14 6 0–5 0–1 1–0 2–3 — 0–0
6  Andorra 10 0 3 7 4 16 −12 3 1–2 0–3 0–1 0–1 1–1 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

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.

Giannis Goumas was the most recent U-21 Greece national team manager
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
Greece Stelios Aposporis 2004–2007 18 9 1 8 050.0 2006 European Championship – Failed to qualify
2007 European Championship – Failed to qualify
Greece Nikos Nioplias 2007–2009 19 9 5 5 047.4 2009 European Championship – Failed to qualify
Greece Georgios Georgiadis 2010–2012 19 10 2 7 052.6 2011 European Championship – Play-offs
2013 European Championship – Failed to qualify
Greece Kostas Tsanas 2012–2015 18 9 2 7 050.0 2015 European Championship – Failed to qualify
Greece Michalis Iordanidis 2015 1 1 0 0 100.0 —
Greece Antonis Nikopolidis 2015–2019 33 16 5 12 048.5 2017 European Championship – Failed to qualify
2019 European Championship – Play-offs
Greece Giannis Goumas 2019–2021 12 4 2 6 033.3 2021 European Championship – Failed to qualify
Greece Georgios Simos 2021–2022 10 5 2 3 050.0 2023 European Championship – Failed to qualify
Greece Nikos Papadopoulos 2022–2024 10 5 2 3 050.0 —
Greece Giannis Taousianis 2024– 7 2 3 2 028.6 —
Totals

Last updated: 4 June 2025. Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only.

Players

Current squad

As of 4 June 2025

The following 23 players were called up for a friendly match against Serbia on 4 June 2025.[1]

Names in italics denote players who have been capped for the senior team.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Nikolaos Botis (2004-03-31) 31 March 2004 3 0 Greece Olympiacos
1GK Spyros Angelidis (2005-01-28) 28 January 2005 2 0 Greece Asteras Tripolis
1GK Alexandros Tsompanidis (2004-08-05) 5 August 2004 0 0 Greece Panserraikos
2DF Alexis Kalogeropoulos (captain) (2004-07-26) 26 July 2004 5 0 Greece Olympiacos
2DF Christos Alexiou (2005-06-30) 30 June 2005 3 1 Italy Inter Milan Primavera
2DF Dimitrios Keramitsis (2004-07-01) 1 July 2004 1 0 Poland Pogoń Szczecin
2DF Konstantinos Kostoulas (2005-02-08) 8 February 2005 4 0 Greece Olympiacos
2DF Lefteris Tasiouras (2004-03-01) 1 March 2004 4 0 Greece Volos
2DF Athanasios Koutsogoulas (2004-04-03) 3 April 2004 8 0 Greece Olympiacos
2DF Marios Sinanaj (2004-01-16) 16 January 2004 4 0 Greece Volos
2DF Konstantinos Polykratis (2006-07-02) 2 July 2006 1 0 Greece PAOK B
3MF Theofanis Bakoulas (2005-01-04) 4 January 2005 8 1 Portugal Rio Ave
3MF Dimitris Kaloskamis (2005-03-01) 1 March 2005 6 0 Greece AEK Athens
3MF Argyrios Liatsikouras (2006-12-20) 20 December 2006 1 0 Greece Olympiacos
3MF Vangelis Nikolaou (2004-06-03) 3 June 2004 4 0 Greece Panetolikos
3MF Viktor Rumyantsev (2004-07-10) 10 July 2004 2 0 Greece PAOK B
4FW Dimitrios Chatsidis (2006-06-14) 14 June 2006 1 0 Greece PAOK B
4FW Georgios Koutsias (2004-02-08) 8 February 2004 19 5 Switzerland Lugano
4FW Dimitris Rallis (2005-03-26) 26 March 2005 4 1 Poland Jagiellonia Białystok
4FW Lampros Smyrlis (2004-07-12) 12 July 2004 4 0 Greece Panetolikos
4FW Antonis Papakanellos (2005-08-11) 11 August 2005 4 1 Portugal Rio Ave
4FW Giannis Theodosoulakis (2004-09-11) 11 September 2004 3 0 Greece OFI
4FW Georgios Kyriopoulos (2004-08-24) 24 August 2004 2 1 Greece Panathinaikos

Recent call-ups

Following are listed players called up in the previous twelve months who are still eligible to represent the under-21 team.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Georgios Karakasidis (2005-01-31) 31 January 2005 2 0 Greece Panathinaikos v. Bulgaria, 25 March 2025
GK Dimitrios Monastirlis (2004-03-22) 22 March 2004 1 0 Greece PAOK v. Hungary, 19 November 2024
GK Konstantinos Balomenos (2002-03-11) 11 March 2002 6 0 Greece PAOK v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
GK Nikos Grammatikakis (2003-05-26) 26 May 2003 1 0 Greece Volos v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
GK Angelos Angelopoulos (2003-02-19) 19 February 2003 1 0 Greece AEK v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
GK Fotis Sgouris (2002-04-29) 29 April 2002 0 0 Greece Asteras Tripolis v. Faroe Islands, 10 September 2024
DF Georgios Katris (2005-10-14) 14 October 2005 3 0 Greece Levadiakos v. Bulgaria, 25 March 2025
DF Taxiarchis Filon (2005-03-16) 16 March 2005 2 0 Greece PAOK B v. Bulgaria, 25 March 2025
DF Noah Allen (2004-04-28) 28 April 2004 1 0 United States Inter Miami v. Bulgaria, 25 March 2025
DF Isidoros Koutsidis (2004-12-23) 23 December 2004 1 0 Greece Volos v. Hungary, 19 November 2024
DF Nikos Deligiannis (2005-03-22) 22 March 2005 1 0 Greece PAOK B v. Hungary, 19 November 2024
DF Fotis Kitsos (2003-03-31) 31 March 2003 16 0 Cyprus Omonia v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
DF Ilias Kostis (2003-02-27) 27 February 2003 8 2 Spain Atlético Madrid B v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
DF Apostolos Konstantopoulos (2002-08-02) 2 August 2002 15 0 Belgium Beerschot v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
DF Apostolos Apostolopoulos (2002-12-11) 11 December 2002 7 0 Greece Panetolikos v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
DF Panagiotis Panagiotou (2002-01-16) 16 January 2002 9 0 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
DF Konstantinos Chrysopoulos (2003-05-21) 21 May 2003 4 0 Cyprus Anorthosis v. Faroe Islands, 10 September 2024
MF Giannis Apostolakis (2004-09-24) 24 September 2004 6 0 Greece OFI v. Bulgaria, 25 March 2025
MF Christos Papadopoulos (2004-11-01) 1 November 2004 3 0 Italy Juventus Next Gen v. Bulgaria, 25 March 2025
MF Sotiris Kontouris (2005-02-24) 24 February 2005 3 0 Greece Panetolikos v. Bulgaria, 25 March 2025
MF Christos Kourfalidis (2002-11-11) 11 November 2002 15 2 Italy Cosenza v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
MF Dimitrios Metaxas (2003-12-16) 16 December 2003 13 0 Greece Athens Kallithea v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
MF Christos Mouzakitis (2006-12-25) 25 December 2006 4 0 Greece Olympiacos v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
MF Argyris Darelas (2003-10-16) 16 October 2003 10 0 Netherlands NEC Nijmegen v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
FW Stavros Pnevmonidis (2006-08-07) 7 August 2006 2 0 Greece Olympiacos U19 v. Bulgaria, 25 March 2025
FW Athanasios Dabizas (2004-05-26) 26 May 2004 1 0 Greece Panathinaikos v. Bulgaria, 25 March 2025
FW Nikos Zouglis (2003-11-14) 14 November 2003 11 1 Greece Asteras Tripolis v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
FW Giannis Niarchos (2002-06-26) 26 June 2002 11 2 Slovakia Košice v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
FW Christos Belevonis (2002-07-29) 29 July 2002 7 0 Greece Panetolikos v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
FW Charalampos Kostoulas (2007-05-30) 30 May 2007 2 2 England Brighton & Hove Albion v. Croatia, 15 October 2024
FW Michalis Panagidis (2004-02-11) 11 February 2004 4 1 Greece Aris Thessaloniki v. Faroe Islands, 10 September 2024

INJ Withdrew due to injury
PRE Included in preliminary roster

Player records

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

References

  1. ^ "Εθνική Ελπίδων: φιλικό με την Σερβία". epo.gr. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
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