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 edit
| FIFA World Cup record | FIFA World Cup qualification record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | ||
 1930
|
Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
 1934
|
Did not qualify | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||
 1938
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 12 | ||||||||||
 1950
|
Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
 1954
|
Did not qualify | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||
 1958
|
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | ||||||||||
 1962
|
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||||||||||
 1966
|
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 | ||||||||||
 1970
|
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 9 | ||||||||||
 1974
|
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 11 | ||||||||||
 1978
|
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||
 1982
|
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 13 | ||||||||||
| 1986
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||
 1990
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 15 | ||||||||||
 1994
|
Group stage | 24th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2 | ||
 1998
|
Did not qualify | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 4 | |||||||||
  2002
|
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 17 | ||||||||||
| 2006
|
12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 9 | ||||||||||
 2010
|
Group stage | 25th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 10 | ||
 2014
|
Round of 16 | 13th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 6 | ||
 2018
|
Did not qualify | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 6 | |||||||||
 2022
|
8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||||
 2026
|
To be determined | To be determined | ||||||||||||||
  2030
| ||||||||||||||||
 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 edit
Group stage edit
| 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 edit
Round 1 edit
| 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 |
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 edit
Group stage edit
| 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 |
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 edit
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 edit
| 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 edit
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 |