© Imago

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 11
England wins: 8
Draws: 2
Greece wins: 1

From 11 previous clashes in all competitions, England have unsurprisingly flexed their muscles against Greece more often than not, winning eight of their showdowns while being held to two draws and only suffering defeat once.

A double Nations League header in 2024-25 saw the 2004 European champions stun Wembley with a 2-1 success in October, but the Three Lions put things right in Athens a few weeks later, storming to a 3-0 win to put their League B promotion fate in their own hands.

The first Nations League contest that year was the first England-Greece reunion in just over 18 years, as the two League B sides had previously not locked horns since a Steve McLaren-led team eased to a 4-0 friendly victory in 2006.

Peter Crouch scored a brace at Old Trafford that day, where Chelsea legends Frank Lampard and John Terry also made the net bulge in a first-half whitewash, as England scored all of their goals before the 42-minute mark.

The Theatre of Dreams was also the venue for the most iconic moment in England-Greece football history - and one of the most memorable overall for the Three Lions in the 21st century - as Sven-Goran Eriksson's side were heading for a 2-1 defeat in a 2001 World Cup qualifier.

That was until David Beckham lined up a free kick some 25 yards from goal in injury time, aimed for the top corner and found it with absolute aplomb, thereby guaranteeing England first place in the group over Germany on goal difference and sealing direct entry to the 2002 World Cup.

Earlier in that qualifying cycle, Beckham was also on target alongside Paul Scholes in a 2-0 win in Athens, and the only other time that England have conceded a goal to Greece came in a 1989 friendly, where Dimitrios Saravakos scored a penalty inside the first minute.

Replies from John Barnes and Bryan Robson turned that game on its head, but England have only won one of their four competitive home games against Greece - a 3-0 triumph during their inaugural showdown in a 1971 European Championships qualifier.

Previous meetings:

Nov 14, 2024: Greece 0-3 England (UEFA Nations League League B Group 2)
Oct 10, 2024: England 1-2 Greece (UEFA Nations League League B Group 2)
Aug 16, 2006: England 4-0 Greece (International Friendly)
Oct 06, 2001: England 2-2 Greece (World Cup Qualifying)
Jun 06, 2001: Greece 0-2 England (World Cup Qualifying)
May 17, 1994: England 5-0 Greece (International Friendly)
Feb 08, 1989: Greece 1-2 England (International Friendly)
Mar 30, 1983: England 0-0 Greece (European Championship Qualifying)
Nov 17, 1982: Greece 0-3 England (European Championship Qualifying)
Dec 01, 1971: Greece 0-2 England (European Championship Qualifying)
Apr 21, 1971: England 3-0 Greece (European Championship Qualifying)

Written by
Ben Knapton