The Greece national football team have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on three occasions, in 1994, 2010 and 2014. They were the reigning European champions when they failed to qualify for the 2006 tournament.

Overview

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D* L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter Did not enter
Italy 1934 Did not qualify 1 0 0 1 0 4
France 1938 3 2 0 1 5 12
Brazil 1950 Did not enter Did not enter
Switzerland 1954 Did not qualify 4 2 0 2 3 2
Sweden 1958 4 0 1 3 2 9
Chile 1962 4 1 0 3 3 8
England 1966 6 2 1 3 10 14
Mexico 1970 6 2 3 1 13 9
West Germany 1974 4 0 0 4 5 11
Argentina 1978 4 1 1 2 2 6
Spain 1982 8 3 1 4 10 13
Mexico 1986 6 1 2 3 5 10
Italy 1990 6 1 2 3 3 15
United States 1994 Group stage 24th 3 0 0 3 0 10 8 6 2 0 10 2
France 1998 Did not qualify 8 4 2 2 11 4
South Korea Japan 2002 8 2 1 5 7 17
Germany 2006 12 6 3 3 15 9
South Africa 2010 Group stage 25th 3 1 0 2 2 5 12 7 3 2 21 10
Brazil 2014 Round of 16 13th 4 1 2 1 3 5 12 9 2 1 16 6
Russia 2018 Did not qualify 9 4 4 1 13 6
Qatar 2022 8 2 4 2 8 8
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total Best: Round of 16 3/22 10 2 2 6 5 20 136 56 33 47 167 179
* Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
Greece's World Cup record
First match  Argentina 4–0 Greece 
(Foxborough, United States; 21 June 1994)
Biggest win  Greece 2–1 Nigeria 
(Bloemfontein, South Africa; 17 June 2010)
 Greece 2–1 Ivory Coast 
(Fortaleza, Brazil; 24 June 2014)
Biggest defeat  Argentina 4–0 Greece 
(Foxborough, United States; 21 June 1994)
 Bulgaria 4–0 Greece 
(Chicago, United States; 26 June 1994)
Best result Round of 16 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup
Worst result Group Stage at the 1994 and 2010 FIFA World Cup

1994 United States

Group stage

Main article: 1994 FIFA World Cup Group D
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Nigeria 3 2 0 1 6 2 +4 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Bulgaria 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6
3  Argentina 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6
4  Greece 3 0 0 3 0 10 −10 0
Source: FIFA

  Win   Tie   Loss

21 June 1994 Argentina  4–0  Greece Boston, United States
12:30 Batistuta 2', 44', 89' (pen.)
Maradona 60'		 Report Stadium: Foxboro Stadium
Attendance: 54,456
Referee: Arturo Angeles (United States)
26 June 1994 Bulgaria  4–0  Greece Chicago, United States
12:30 Stoichkov 5' (pen.), 55' (pen.)
Letchkov 65'
Borimirov 90'		 Report Stadium: Soldier Field
Attendance: 63,160
Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates)
30 June 1994 Greece  0–2  Nigeria Boston, United States
19:30 Report George 45'
Amokachi 90'		 Stadium: Foxboro Stadium
Attendance: 53,001
Referee: Leslie Mottram (Scotland)

2010 South Africa

Round 1

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group B

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Argentina 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  South Korea 3 1 1 1 5 6 −1 4
3  Greece 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 3
4  Nigeria 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria

  Win   Tie   Loss

12 June 2010 South Korea  2–0  Greece Port Elizabeth, South Africa
13:30 Lee Jung-soo 7'
Park Ji-sung 52'		 Report Stadium: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
Attendance: 31,513
Referee: Michael Hester (New Zealand)
17 June 2010 Greece  2–1  Nigeria Bloemfontein, South Africa
16:00 Salpingidis 44'
Torosidis 71'		 Report Uche 16' Stadium: Free State Stadium
Attendance: 31,593
Referee: Óscar Ruiz (Colombia)
22 June 2010 Greece  0–2  Argentina Polokwane, South Africa
20:30 Report Demichelis 77'
Palermo 89'		 Stadium: Peter Mokaba Stadium
Attendance: 38,891
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan

2014 Brazil

Group stage

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup Group C

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Colombia 3 3 0 0 9 2 +7 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Greece 3 1 1 1 2 4 −2 4
3  Ivory Coast 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 3
4  Japan 3 0 1 2 2 6 −4 1
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria

  Win   Tie   Loss

14 June 2014 Colombia  3–0  Greece Belo Horizonte, Brazil
13:00 Armero 5'
Gutiérrez 58'
Rodríguez 90+3'		 Report Stadium: Estádio Mineirão
Attendance: 57,174
Referee: Mark Geiger (United States)
19 June 2014 Japan  0–0  Greece Natal, Brazil
19:00 Report Stadium: Arena das Dunas
Attendance: 39,485
Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)
24 June 2014 Greece  2–1  Ivory Coast Fortaleza, Brazil
17:00 Samaris 42'
Samaras 90+3' (pen.)		 Report Bony 74' Stadium: Estádio Castelão
Attendance: 59,095
Referee: Carlos Vera (Ecuador)

Knockout stage

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup knockout stage

  Win   Tie   Loss

29 June 2014 Round of 16 Costa Rica  1–1 (a.e.t.)
(5–3 p)		  Greece Recife, Brazil
17:00
Report
Stadium: Arena Pernambuco
Attendance: 41,242
Referee: Ben Williams (Australia)
Penalties

Record players

Rank Player Matches World Cups
1 Giorgos Karagounis 7 2010 and 2014
Georgios Samaras 7 2010 and 2014
Vasilis Torosidis 7 2010 and 2014
4 Theofanis Gekas 6 2010 and 2014
Kostas Katsouranis 6 2010 and 2014
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 6 2010 and 2014
Dimitris Salpingidis 6 2010 and 2014
8 José Holebas 4 2014
Orestis Karnezis 4 2014
Giannis Maniatis 4 2014
Kostas Manolas 4 2014

Top goalscorers

Five players scored one goal each for Greece at a FIFA World Cup:

Rank Player Goals World Cup
1 Dimitris Salpingidis 1 2010
Vasilis Torosidis 1 2010
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 1 2014
Georgios Samaras 1 2014
Andreas Samaris 1 2014

See also

External links

Greece national football team
Countries at the FIFA World Cup
Categories