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.
 | ||||
| Nickname(s) | Εθνική Ελπίδων ("National team of Hopes") | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Hellenic Football Federation | |||
| Head coach | Giannis Taousianis | |||
| Captain | Konstantinos Tzolakis | |||
| Most caps | Giorgos Karagounis (39) | |||
| Top scorer | Nikos Liberopoulos & Lampros Choutos (15) | |||
| ||||
| Biggest win | ||||
 Greece 6–0 Luxembourg  (Greece; 1993) Greece 6–0 Latvia  (Greece; 1999) | ||||
| Biggest defeat | ||||
 Hungary 7–0 Greece  (Hungary; 1976) | ||||
| UEFA U-21 Championship | ||||
| Appearances | 4 (first in 1988) | |||
| Best result | Runners-up, 1988, 1998 | |||
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.
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 StadiuminThessaloniki.
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.
As of 23 September 2022
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA U-21 Championship | 239 | 109 | 45 | 85 |
| 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 |
 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 |
Winners (2): 1969, 1971
Third place (2):, 2015, 2018The following is a list of match results from the previous 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
v Greece
| 12 September 2023 (2023-09-12) 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) |
v
Croatia
| 13 October 2023 (2023-10-13) 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Greece | 2–2 | Croatia | Tripoli, Greece |
| 17:00 |
 89' |
Report |
67' |
Stadium: Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium Attendance: 1,250 Referee: Tom Owen (Wales) |
v Greece
| 17 October 2023 (2023-10-17) 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Portugal | 2–0 | Greece | Guimarães, Portugal |
| 20:00 (19:00 WEST) |
74' (pen.) |
Report | Stadium: Estádio D. Afonso Henriques Attendance: 2,231 |
v
Faroe Islands
| 16 November 2023 (2023-11-16) 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Greece | 3–0 | Faroe Islands | Tripoli, Greece |
| 15:00 (16:00 EEST) |
51' 57' |
Report | Stadium: Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium Attendance: 250 Referee: Mervan Bejtullahu (Kosovo) |
v Portugal
| 21 November 2023 (2023-11-21) 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Greece | 2–1 | Portugal | Tripoli, Greece |
| 15:00 (16:00 EEST) |
50' |
Report |
|
Stadium: Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium Attendance: 500 Referee: Nikola Popov (Bulgaria) |
v Greece
| 22 March 2024 (2024-03-22) 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) |
v Andorra
| 26 March 2024 (2024-03-26) 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) |
v Greece
| 10 September 2024 (2024-09-10) 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Faroe Islands | v | Greece |
v Greece
| 15 October 2024 (2024-10-15) 2025 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification Group G | Croatia | v | Greece |
| 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 | — |
The following table provides a summary of the complete record of each Greece team manager including their results regarding European Under-21 Championship.
| Manager | Greece tenure | Pld | W | D | L | Win % | Major competitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stelios Aposporis
|
2004–2007 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 050.0 |  2006 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2007 European Championship – Failed to qualify
|
| Nikos Nioplias
|
2007–2009 | 19 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 047.4 | 2009 European Championship – Failed to qualify
|
| Georgios Georgiadis
|
2010–2012 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 052.6 | 2011 European Championship – Play-offs 2013 European Championship – Failed to qualify
|
| Kostas Tsanas
|
2012–2015 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 050.0 | 2015 European Championship – Failed to qualify
|
| Michalis Iordanidis
|
2015 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | — |
| Antonis Nikopolidis
|
2015–2019 | 33 | 16 | 5 | 12 | 048.5 | 2017 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2019 European Championship – Play-offs
|
| Giannis Goumas
|
2019–2021 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 033.3 | 2021 European Championship – Failed to qualify
|
| Georgios Simos
|
2021–2022 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 050.0 | 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.
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 | 1GK | Konstantinos Tzolakis (captain) | (2002-11-08) 8 November 2002 (age 21) | 21 | 0 | Olympiacos
|
| 12 | 1GK | Konstantinos Balomenos | (2002-03-11) 11 March 2002 (age 22) | 2 | 0 | PAOK B
|
| 13 | 1GK | Nikos Grammatikakis | (2003-05-26) 26 May 2003 (age 21) | 0 | 0 | Asteras Tripolis
|
| 3 | 2DF | Vangelis Keramidas | (2002-09-12) 12 September 2002 (age 21) | 0 | 0 | Olympiacos B
|
| 4 | 2DF | Panagiotis Panagiotou | (2002-01-16) 16 January 2002 (age 22) | 8 | 0 | PAOK B
|
| 5 | 2DF | Apostolos Konstantopoulos | (2002-08-02) 2 August 2002 (age 21) | 11 | 0 |  Beerschot
|
| 19 | 2DF | Alexis Kalogeropoulos | (2004-07-26) 26 July 2004 (age 19) | 1 | 0 | Volos
|
| 20 | 2DF | Konstantinos Chrysopoulos | (2003-05-21) 21 May 2003 (age 21) | 4 | 0 | AEK
|
| 22 | 2DF | Argyris Darelas | (2003-10-16) 16 October 2003 (age 20) | 7 | 0 | PAOK B
|
| 23 | 2DF | Apostolos Apostolopoulos | (2002-12-11) 11 December 2002 (age 21) | 3 | 0 | Olympiacos B
|
| 2DF | Fotis Kitsos | (2003-03-31) 31 March 2003 (age 21) | 12 | 0 | Volos
| |
| 2DF | Nikolaos Kanellopoulos | (2003-01-10) 10 January 2003 (age 21) | 0 | 0 | AEK B
| |
| 2 | 3MF | Athanasios Karamanis | (2003-10-14) 14 October 2003 (age 20) | 2 | 0 | Atromitos
|
| 6 | 3MF | Dimitrios Metaxas | (2003-12-16) 16 December 2003 (age 20) | 9 | 0 |  AC Oulu
|
| 8 | 3MF | Christos Kourfalidis | (2002-11-11) 11 November 2002 (age 21) | 11 | 0 | Cagliari
|
| 10 | 3MF | Vasilios Sourlis | (2002-11-16) 16 November 2002 (age 21) | 18 | 3 | Raków Częstochowa
|
| 11 | 3MF | Nikos Zouglis | (2003-11-14) 14 November 2003 (age 20) | 7 | 1 | Asteras Tripolis
|
| 14 | 3MF | Marios Sofianos | (2003-11-24) 24 November 2003 (age 20) | 3 | 0 | Panserraikos
|
| 16 | 3MF | Michalis Panagidis | (2004-02-11) 11 February 2004 (age 20) | 4 | 1 | Aris Thessaloniki
|
| 17 | 3MF | Titos Koutentakis | (2003-08-22) 22 August 2003 (age 20) | 0 | 0 | OFI
|
| 18 | 3MF | Giannis Apostolakis | (2004-09-24) 24 September 2004 (age 19) | 2 | 0 | OFI
|
| 21 | 3MF | Christos Kryparakos | (2003-06-12) 12 June 2003 (age 21) | 10 | 0 | Panathinaikos B
|
| 3MF | Christos Belevonis | (2002-07-29) 29 July 2002 (age 21) | 6 | 0 | Panetolikos
| |
| 7 | 4FW | Stefanos Tzimas | (2006-01-06) 6 January 2006 (age 18) | 2 | 0 | 1. FC Nürnberg
|
| 9 | 4FW | Michalis Kosidis | (2002-02-09) 9 February 2002 (age 22) | 10 | 2 | VVV-Venlo
|
| 4FW | Giannis Niarchos | (2002-06-26) 26 June 2002 (age 22) | 7 | 0 | DAC Dunajská Streda
| |
