England taking on Greece has not been a vintage game to follow in the fixture’s history with results heavily tilted towards the Three Lions. It has only been played 10 times with England dominating it with seven wins and a whopping 24 goals scored. On the other hand, Greece has only managed to score five and prevented conceding goals just once. However, the meeting has been important for both sides on certain occasions with the winning team making history.
England vs Greece head-to-head meetings (overall)
Played - 10
England won - 7
Drawn - 2
Greece won - 1
England vs Greece goals scored
England scored - 24
Greece scored - 5
England vs Greece clean sheets
England - 7
Greece - 1
Biggest win: England 5-0 Greece - International Friendly (17 May 1994)
The biggest winning margin in this fixture came in 1994 when England hosted Greece at the original Wembley Stadium for a friendly game. The hosts contained a strong group, including legendary striker Alan Shearer, captain David Platt, center-back Tony Adams, etc., and left no stone unturned to show their might in this game. The visitors resisted until the 24th minute when Darren Anderton gave Three Lions the lead to open the floodgates. Peter Beardsley doubled the lead shortly before Platt made it 3-0 on the stroke of half-time. He completed his brace quickly after the restart with Shearer completing the routing in the 65th minute.
England’s top moment: England 2-2 Greece - FIFA World Cup 2002 qualifiers (6 October 2001)
The most memorable meeting between the nations, which became the David Beckham show, came in the European qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2002 with England battling Germany for the top spot. The Three Lions were desperate to secure direct qualification and needed to avoid defeat at all costs in the final game for that. Facing Greece at home having beaten them in the reverse clash and dropping points just once before in this fixture, the 1966 World Cup winners were confident of accomplishing their task maintaining a five game winning streak. Greece had no chance to go to the World Cup finals as they sat a low fourth with no stakes. For that reason, the team played more freely and took a shock lead through Angelos Charisteas in the 36th minute being the better of the two sides in the early stages. England knew they could not let their hard work undone. Capitalising from Greece’s missed opportunities to double the lead found the equaliser through Teddy Sheringham’s sensational header from Beckham’s excellent free-kick. However, the celebration was muted instantly as Greece took the lead again only seconds after conceding. England knew they had to rescue a point to stay in contention for the top spot as second-place Germany also drew goalless with Finland in the other match. Their star of the match provided the inspiration for it. The iconic moment arrived with time running out, the side managed by their first foreign manager late Sven-Göran Eriksson won a free-kick in the third minute of stoppage time which Beckham dispatched magnificently to send England to the World Cup on head-to-head.
Greece’s top moment: England 1-2 Greece - UEFA Nations League 2024/25 (10 October 2024)
Having not won in any games against England in the previous clashes, Greece finally broke their hoodoo in the 10th meeting in the top two battle of UEFA Nations League 2024/25 League B. Earning promotion from League C, Greece is making an ambitious attempt to make it League A facing England also hunting for the same after relegated from the division last season. The Three Lions started their present campaign on a winning note following another disappointment in a Euro final and post-Gareth Southgate era. Trailing by goal-difference, they faced the leaders Greece at Wembley hoping to maintain their momentum but the guests had other ideas. Seeing a clearance off the line and the host missing two glorious chances, Vangelis Pavlidis made them pay early after the break. In a desperate attempt to get back into the match, the home side kept missing clear-cut chances, ruing their star striker Harry Kane’s absence due to injury. Still, Jude Bellingham managed to equalise the score with a well-taken strike in the 87th minute. However, they were hit again with Pavlidis firing a stoppage-time goal to unleash wild celebrations in the away end, grabbing a historical three points against the Three Lions in Wembley.
England vs Greece Last Five Meetings
England 5-0 Greece - International Friendly (17 May 1994)
Greece 0-2 England - FIFA World Cup 2002 qualifiers (6 June 2001)
England 2-2 Greece - FIFA World Cup 2002 qualifiers (6 October 2001)
England 4-0 Greece - International Friendly (16 August 2006)
England 1-2 Greece - UEFA Nations League 2024/25 (10 October 2024)
