Greece national under-21 football team

Greece Under-21
Nickname(s)	Εθνική Ελπίδων ; ("National team of Hopes")
Association	Hellenic Football Federation (HFF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Giannis Taousianis
Captain	Alexis Kalogeropoulos
Most caps	Giorgos Karagounis (39)
Top scorer	Nikos Liberopoulos &; Lampros Choutos (15)
FIFA code	GRE
First colours	Second colours
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 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 and it is considered to be the feeder team for the Greece national football team.

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 three 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.

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 11 October 2025

Competition	Pld	W	D	L
UEFA U-23 Championship	14	6	0	8
UEFA U-21 Championship	230	108	40	82

UEFA European U23 Championship record

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA European U21 Championship record										Qualification record
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	Did not qualify									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

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA European U21 Championship record											Qualification record
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	Did not qualify										6	1	1	4	6	13	−7
1994	Quarter-finals	6th	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2		8	6	2	0	23	6	+17
1996	Did not qualify										8	3	0	5	12	12	0
1998	Final	Runners-up	3	2	0	1	4	1	+3		10	6	1	3	16	11	+5
2000	Did not qualify										12	8	2	2	33	13	+20
2002	Group stage	8th	3	0	1	2	3	6	−3		10	6	1	3	18	8	+10
2004	Did not qualify										8	3	3	2	10	7	+3
2006											12	6	2	4	18	9	+9
2007											2	0	0	2	1	4	−3
2009											10	5	3	2	20	13	+7
2011											10	6	1	3	13	12	+1
2013											10	4	1	5	14	15	−1
2015											8	5	0	3	20	10	+10
2017											10	4	1	5	13	14	−1
2019											12	8	1	3	26	7	+19
2021											10	5	1	4	10	11	−1
2023											10	5	2	3	16	10	+6
2025											10	7	1	2	20	14	+6
2027	to be determined										7	6	0	1	21	4	+17

Total	0 titles	4/25	14	3	5	6	17	19	−2	205	103	30	72	340	240	+100

Honours

Greece national under-21 football team honours^[1]
Type	Competition	Titles	Winners	Runners-up	Third place	Ref.
International	UEFA European Under-23 Championship	0			1972	^[2]
International	UEFA European Under-21 Championship	0		1988, 1998		^[3]
Regional	Balkan Youth Championship	2	1969, 1971			^[4]
Regional	Valeriy Lobanovskyi Memorial Tournament	0			2015, 2018	^[5]

record
^S Shared record

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.

2025

9 September 2025 (2025-09-09) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F	Malta	0–5	Greece	Ta' Qali, Malta
20:00		Report	Pnevmonidis 14', 63' Koutsias 45+2', 54' Rallis 90'	Stadium: Centenary Stadium Referee: Miloš Savović (Montenegro)

10 October 2025 (2025-10-10) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F	Germany	2–3	Greece	Jena, Germany
19:00	Damar 54' Rothe 59'	Report	Kostoulas 12' Tzimas 14' Rallis 81'	Stadium: Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld Referee: Matteo Marcenaro (Italy)

14 October 2025 (2025-10-14) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F	Latvia	0–1	Greece	Riga, Latvia
17:00		Report	Tzimas 83'	Stadium: LNK Sporta Parks Referee: Matthew MacDermid (Scotland)

14 November 2025 (2025-11-14) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F	Greece	3–0	Georgia	Athens, Greece
17:00	Tzimas 44' (pen.) Kalogeropoulos 45+1' Keramitsis 79'	Report		Stadium: Leoforos Alexandras Stadium Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Viktor Kopiievskyi (Ukraine

18 November 2025 (2025-11-18) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F	Greece	4–0	Northern Ireland	Livadeia, Greece
16:00	Alexiou 19' Gkoumas 26' Tzimas 63' (pen.) Smyrlis 81'	Report		Stadium: Levadia Municipal Stadium Attendance: 2,433 Referee: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz (Spain)

2026

27 March 2026 (2026-03-27) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F	Greece	5–0	Malta	Livadeia, Greece
18:00	Goumas 16' Koutsias 23', 61' (pen.), 79' Kaloskamis 49'	Report		Stadium: Levadia Municipal Stadium Referee: Cláudio Pereira (Portugal)

31 March 2026 (2026-03-31) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F	Greece	0–2	Germany	Athens, Greece
19:00		Report	El Mala 11' Kade 73'	Stadium: Leoforos Alexandras Stadium Referee: Marc Nagtegaal (Netherlands)

27 May 2026 (2026-05-27) Friendly	Greece	1–2	Qatar	Nedelišće, Croatia
18:30	Pnevmonidis 77'	Report	Taha 7' Al-Ghareeb 71' (pen.)	Stadium: NK Nedelišće

30 May 2026 (2026-05-30) Friendly	Croatia	1–1	Greece	Nedelišće, Croatia
16:00	Kardum 39'	Report	Pnevmonidis 36'	Stadium: NK Nedelišće

26 September 2026 (2026-09-26) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F	Georgia	v	Greece
		Report

1 October 2026 (2026-10-01) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F	Greece	v	Latvia
		Report

6 October 2026 (2026-10-06) 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualification – Group F	Northern Ireland	v	Greece
		Report

Euro 2027 Under-21 Championship qualification

2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	7	6	0	1	22	4	+18	18	Final tournament	—	2–3	3–0	6 Oct	5–0	6–0
2	Greece	7	6	0	1	21	4	+17	18	Final tournament or play-offs	0–2	—	4–0	3–0	1 Oct	5–0
3	Northern Ireland	7	3	1	3	8	11	−3	10		1–2	6 Oct	—	1 Oct	1–0	2–0
4	Georgia	7	2	3	2	12	9	+3	9		0–2	26 Sep	1–1	—	1–1	4–1
5	Latvia (E)	7	1	2	4	4	12	−8	5		26 Sep	0–1	1–3	1–1	—	6 Oct
6	Malta (E)	7	0	0	7	1	28	−27	0		30 Sep	0–5	26 Sep	0–5	0–1	—

Updated to match(es) played on 31 March 2026. Source: UEFA
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.

Giannis Goumas was one of 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
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	2022–2024	10	5	2	3	050.0	2025 European Championship – Failed to qualify
Giannis Taousianis	2024–	14	8	3	3	057.1	to be determined
Totals

Last updated: 31 March 2026. Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only.

Players

Current squad

As of 31 May 2026

The following 26 players were called up for friendly matches in Croatia on 27 and 30 May 2026.^[6]

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

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Alexandros Tsompanidis	(2004-08-05) 5 August 2004 (age 22)	2	0	Olympiacos B
1GK	Georgios Karakasidis	(2005-01-31) 31 January 2005 (age 21)	3	0	Panathinaikos
1GK	Theofilos Kakadiaris	(2007-01-17) 17 January 2007 (age 19)	0	0	Asteras Tripolis

2DF	Alexis Kalogeropoulos (captain)	(2004-07-26) 26 July 2004 (age 22)	14	1	1. FC Nürnberg
2DF	Dimitrios Keramitsis	(2004-07-01) 1 July 2004 (age 22)	4	1	Pogoń Szczecin
2DF	Christos Alexiou	(2005-06-30) 30 June 2005 (age 21)	11	1	AEK Athens
2DF	Nikolaos Vakouftsis	(2004-03-31) 31 March 2004 (age 22)	1	0	1. FC Schweinfurt 05
2DF	Konstantinos Kostoulas	(2005-02-08) 8 February 2005 (age 21)	8	1	OFI
2DF	Taxiarchis Filon	(2005-03-16) 16 March 2005 (age 21)	4	0	Levadiakos
2DF	Athanasios Koutsogoulas	(2004-04-03) 3 April 2004 (age 22)	13	0	Olympiacos B
2DF	Konstantinos Polykratis	(2006-07-02) 2 July 2006 (age 20)	1	0	PAOK B

3MF	Giannis Apostolakis	(2004-09-24) 24 September 2004 (age 21)	9	0	OFI
3MF	Dimitris Kaloskamis	(2005-03-01) 1 March 2005 (age 21)	14	1	AEK Athens
3MF	Vangelis Nikolaou	(2004-06-03) 3 June 2004 (age 22)	8	0	Panetolikos
3MF	Konstantinos Goumas	(2005-03-12) 12 March 2005 (age 21)	9	2	Levadiakos
3MF	Adriano Bregou	(2006-04-09) 9 April 2006 (age 20)	9	0	Panetolikos
3MF	Christos Almyras	(2005-07-18) 18 July 2005 (age 21)	4	0	Djurgårdens IF
3MF	Giannis Sarris	(2007-03-20) 20 March 2007 (age 19)	1	0	PAOK B

4FW	Georgios Koutsias	(2004-02-08) 8 February 2004 (age 22)	25	10	Famalicão
4FW	Dimitris Rallis	(2005-03-26) 26 March 2005 (age 21)	9	3	Jagiellonia Białystok
4FW	Panagiotis Tsantilas	(2004-03-01) 1 March 2004 (age 22)	3	0	Atromitos
4FW	Antonis Papakanellos	(2005-08-11) 11 August 2005 (age 20)	10	1	Olympiacos
4FW	Stavros Pnevmonidis	(2006-08-07) 7 August 2006 (age 20)	6	4	Atromitos
4FW	Lampros Smyrlis	(2004-07-12) 12 July 2004 (age 22)	9	1	Panetolikos
4FW	Giannis Theodosoulakis	(2004-09-11) 11 September 2004 (age 21)	4	0	OFI
4FW	Dimitrios Chatsidis	(2006-06-14) 14 June 2006 (age 20)	4	0	PAOK

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	Nikolaos Botis	(2004-03-31) 31 March 2004 (age 22)	10	0	Pogoń Szczecin	v. Germany, 31 March 2026
GK	Dimitrios Monastirlis	(2004-03-22) 22 March 2004 (age 22)	1	0	PAOK	v. Germany, 31 March 2026
GK	Spyros Angelidis	(2005-01-28) 28 January 2005 (age 21)	2	0	Asteras Tripolis	v. Northern Ireland, 18 November 2025

DF	Noah Allen	(2004-04-28) 28 April 2004 (age 22)	8	0	Inter Miami	v. Germany, 31 March 2026
DF	Georgios Katris^PRE	(2005-10-14) 14 October 2005 (age 20)	5	0	Panathinaikos	v. Malta, 27 March 2026
DF	David Galiatsos	(2006-02-01) 1 February 2006 (age 20)	0	0	Panetolikos	v. Latvia, 14 October 2025
DF	Marios Sinanaj	(2004-01-16) 16 January 2004 (age 22)	4	0	Unattached	v. Malta, 9 September 2025

MF	Sotiris Kontouris	(2005-02-24) 24 February 2005 (age 21)	6	0	Panathinaikos	v. Germany, 31 March 2026
MF	Viktor Rumyantsev	(2004-07-10) 10 July 2004 (age 22)	2	0	Panserraikos	v. Latvia, 14 October 2025
MF	Theofanis Bakoulas	(2005-01-04) 4 January 2005 (age 21)	9	1	Olympiacos	v. Malta, 9 September 2025
MF	Argyris Liatsikouras	(2006-12-20) 20 December 2006 (age 19)	1	0	Olympiacos	v. Malta, 9 September 2025

FW	Charalampos Kostoulas	(2007-05-30) 30 May 2007 (age 19)	6	2	Brighton & Hove Albion	v. Germany, 31 March 2026
FW	Stefanos Tzimas	(2006-01-06) 6 January 2006 (age 20)	9	4	Brighton & Hove Albion	v. Northern Ireland, 18 November 2025
MF	Christos Papadopoulos	(2004-11-01) 1 November 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Levadiakos	v. Northern Ireland, 18 November 2025
FW	Giannis Bokos	(2007-02-03) 3 February 2007 (age 19)	1	0	Panathinaikos	v. Malta, 9 September 2025
^INJ Withdrew due to injury ^PRE Included in preliminary roster

Player records

Players in bold are still active with under-21 Greece.

Top appearances

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Year(s)	U-21 caps
1	Giorgos Karagounis	Panathinaikos, Apollon Smyrnis	1993–1998	39
2	Georgios Alexopoulos	Panathinaikos	1996–1998	33
3	Dimitrios Papadopoulos	Akratitos, Burnley	2000–2002	27
3	Anastasios Lagos	Panathinaikos	2011–2014	27
5	Vasilios Lakis	Paniliakos	1996–1998	25
	Ioannis Amanatidis	Stuttgart, Greuther Fürth	2000–2003
	Georgios Koutsias	PAOK, PAOK B, Volos, Chicago Fire, Lugano	2020–
8	Dimitrios Mavrogenidis	Aris Thessaloniki, Olympiacos	1996–1998	24
	Apostolos Vellios	Everton, Blackpool, Lierse	2011–2014
	Elini Dimoutsos	Panathinaikos, OFI, Panetolikos	2008–2010

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Year(s)	U-21 goals
1	Nikos Liberopoulos	Kalamata, Panathinaikos	1994–1998	15
1	Lampros Choutos	Olympiacos	1999–2002	15
3	Giorgos Karagounis	Panathinaikos, Apollon Smyrnis	1993–1998	11
3	Dimitrios Papadopoulos	Akratitos, Burnley	2000–2002	11
5	Georgios Koutsias	PAOK, PAOK B, Volos, Chicago Fire, Lugano	2020–	10
6	Nikos Karelis	Ergotelis, Amkar Perm, Panathinaikos	2010–2014	9
7	Efthymis Koulouris	Anorthosis, PAOK, Atromitos	2016–2018	7
	Antonis Petropoulos	Haidari, Egaleo, Panathinaikos, OFI	2005–2008
	Vangelis Mantzios	Panionios	2003–2005
	Lazaros Christodoulopoulos	PAOK, Panathinaikos	2005–2008
	Nikolaos Ioannidis	Borussia Dortmund II	2015–2016

Former squads

References

↑ "Hellenic Football Federation". epo.gr (in Greek). Online. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
↑ Garin, Erik; Jordan, Tony (14 February 2004). "Europe U-23 Championship 1972". rsssf.org. Online. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
↑ Garin, Erik (21 July 2025). "Europe - U-23/U-21 Tournaments". rsssf.org. Online. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
↑ Armillotta, Giovanni; Garin, Erik; Pandoski, Fatjon (21 January 2006). "Balkan Youth Championship 1968-1981". rsssf.org. Online. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
↑ Veronese, Andrea; Garin, Erik (2 August 2018). "Lobanovsky International Tournament (Kyiv)". rsssf.org. Online. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
↑ "Κλήσεις Εθνικής Ελπίδων για φιλικά στην Κροατία". epo.gr. Retrieved 19 May 2026.

External links

Greece U-21 at HFF (in Greek)
Greece U-21 at UEFA
UEFA European U-21 Championship at uefa.com

[1] "Hellenic Football Federation". epo.gr (in Greek). Online. Retrieved 18 August 2025.

[2] Garin, Erik; Jordan, Tony (14 February 2004). "Europe U-23 Championship 1972". rsssf.org. Online. Retrieved 18 August 2025.

[3] Garin, Erik (21 July 2025). "Europe - U-23/U-21 Tournaments". rsssf.org. Online. Retrieved 18 August 2025.

[4] Armillotta, Giovanni; Garin, Erik; Pandoski, Fatjon (21 January 2006). "Balkan Youth Championship 1968-1981". rsssf.org. Online. Retrieved 18 August 2025.

[5] Veronese, Andrea; Garin, Erik (2 August 2018). "Lobanovsky International Tournament (Kyiv)". rsssf.org. Online. Retrieved 18 August 2025.

[6] "Κλήσεις Εθνικής Ελπίδων για φιλικά στην Κροατία". epo.gr. Retrieved 19 May 2026.

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v t e Greece national football team
General topics	Hellenic Football Federation History Managers
Venues	Leoforos Alexandras Stadium (1929–1970, 1977–1980, 2002–2003) Karaiskakis Stadium (1971–1976, 2004–2008, 2010–2017, 2024–present) Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium (1981) Olympic Stadium (1982–2001, 2009, 2018–2021) Panthessaliko Stadium (2021–2022) Agia Sophia Stadium (2022–2024) List of football stadiums in Greece
Results	Men's 1929–59 1960–79 1980–99 2000–19 2020–present Women's 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present
Players	List of Greece international footballers World Cup & Euro Championship squads Other footballers Hat-tricks
FIFA World Cup tournaments	Summary 1994 2010 2014
UEFA Euro tournaments	Summary 1980 2004 2008 2012
FIFA Confed Cup tournaments	Summary 2005
Matches	UEFA Euro 2004 final Faroe Islands v Greece (2014–15)
Other HFF teams	U-21 U-20 U-19 U-17 Olympic team Βeach soccer Futsal Women Military

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