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[monks data]
Greece national football team
Nations League | League B
Sep 7, 2024 at 7.45pm UK
Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki
Finland national football team

Greece
3 - 0
Finland

Ioannidis (23', 76'), Kallman (37' og.)
Koulierakis (51'), Konstantelias (67'), Zafeiris (90+3')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Kallman (25'), Peltola (90+4')

Preview: Greece vs. Finland - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Nations League clash between Greece and Finland, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Greece welcome Finland to the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus on Saturday on matchday one of the new UEFA Nations League campaign.

This will be the host's first-ever match in League B, after finally winning promotion from the third tier in its last iteration in 2022.


Match preview

Greece's Tasos Bakasetas celebrates on March 21, 2024© Imago

A new cycle begins for Greece after yet another huge disappointment in Euro 2024 qualifying, where they were beaten by a Georgia side who had never reached a major tournament before in the playoffs.

New manager Ivan Jovanovic has replaced Gus Poyet looking to end their string of failed qualifications which dates back to 2014.

Their fall from grace is illustrated by this being the first time they have competed in the second tier since the inception of the Nations League, needing three attempts to get out of League C.

In 2018, the Greeks finished below Finland and Hungary, then missed out behind Slovenia in 2020, before finally topping a section including Kosovo, Northern Ireland and Cyprus last time around.

There are shades of the early 2000s with the current state of the Greek national side, just as Otto Rehhagel took over a complete mess in 2001 and made them European champions three years later.

While any repeat of that appears near-impossible, Olympiacos' success in the Conference League should rejuvenate football in the country, and the national side need to take inspiration, with a few members from the club in the setup currently.

Finland's Oliver Antman celebrates on June 7, 2024© Imago

With England also being drawn in this group, it leaves the others with little chance of promotion, should the Three Lions take it more seriously than the last edition.

After finishing above Greece in 2018 to win promotion to League B, Finland have remained at this level, slightly punching above their weight, and that could well be their aim again.

Markku Kanerva's side earned a Euro 2024 playoff place thanks to their performance in the previous Nations League, but the dream was quickly dashed with a 4-1 thrashing in Cardiff against Wales, missing the opportunity to reach back-to-back Euros.

Despite that defeat though, the visitors have won seven of their last 13 away competitive games, keeping five clean sheets in the process, but their gameplan was anything but pragmatic in June, as a 4-2 defeat in Portugal was followed up by a 2-2 draw away to Scotland.

Greece form (all competitions):


Finland form (all competitions):



Team News

Greece's Odysseas Vlachodimos reacts on June 7, 2024 [IMAGO]© Imago

Konstantinos Tzolakis could be set to take over from Odysseas Vlachodimos as Greece's number one, with the latter not getting a look-in at Newcastle United since his summer switch from Nottingham Forest.

Midfielder Dimitris Kourbelis has been dropped from the squad after making a move to Saudi Arabia late in the summer transfer window, but Vangelis Pavlidis's transfer to Benfica could have the opposite effect and lead to his big breakout after many successful seasons at AZ Alkmaar.

Right-back George Baldock has been left out once again, along with Panagiotis Retsos and Giorgos Kyriakopoulos - two of the back four that started their previous game against Malta.

Finland will be without Daniel Hakans for this international break, and the Lech Poznan attacker will be a big miss, having scored four goals in his seven competitive appearances with the national side, all coming in the recent Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Middlesbrough striker Marcus Forss is still on the long road to recovery having been out since March, so the vastly experienced Teemu Pukki is set to start up front to make his 123rd cap.

Robert Taylor refused to accept a call up for both the March and June squads, prioritising representing his club Inter Miami instead, but the midfielder has now been snubbed while his club does not play this weekend.

Greece possible starting lineup:
Tzolakis; Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas; Mantalos, Pelkas, Bakasetas; Masouras, Pavlidis, Tzolis

Finland possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Alho, Tenho, Ivanov, Uronen; Kamara, Schuller; Lod, Pohjanpalo, Antman; Pukki


SM words green background

We say: Greece 1-1 Finland

Both nations had garnered reputations of being quite defensively-minded in recent years, but Finland's results so far in 2024 suggest otherwise and Greece are now under new management.

National team attendances have not been fantastic for Greece of late, as less than 200 saw them beat New Zealand last November, so the notorious rapturous atmosphere may not be present to give the hosts an advantage in Jovanovic's first game in charge.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.




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Written by
Andrew Delaney

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Game History

How you voted: Greece vs Finland

Greece
66.1%
Draw
22.9%
Finland
11.0%
118
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League A1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal642014
Q Croatia Croatia62228
3 Scotland flag Scotland62137
4 Poland Poland61144

League A2

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Q France France641113
Q Italy Italy641113
3 Belgium Belgium61144
4 Israel Israel61144

League A3

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Q Germany Germany642014
Q Netherlands Netherlands62319
3 Hungary Hungary61326
4 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina60242

League A4

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Q Spain Spain651016
Q Denmark Denmark62228
3 Serbia Serbia61326
4 Switzerland Switzerland60242

League B1

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Q Czech Republic Czech Republic632111
2 Ukraine Ukraine62228
3 Georgia Georgia62137
4 Albania national flag Albania62137

League B2

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Q England flag England650115
2 Greece Greece650115
3 Ireland Rep. Ireland62046
4 Finland Finland60060

League B3

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Q Norway Norway641113
2 Austria Austria632111
3 Slovenia Slovenia62228
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan60151

League B4

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Q Wales flag Wales633012
2 Turkey Turkey632111
3 Iceland Iceland62137
4 Montenegro Montenegro61053

League C1

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Q Sweden Sweden651016
2 Slovakia Slovakia641113
3 Estonia Estonia61144
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan60151

League C2

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Q Romania Romania550015
2 Kosovo flag Kosovo540112
3 Cyprus Cyprus62046
4 Lithuania Lithuania60060

League C3

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Q Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland632111
2 Bulgaria Bulgaria62319
3 Belarus Belarus61417
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg60333

League C4

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Q Macedonia N. Macedonia651016
2 Armenia Armenia62137
3 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands61326
4 Latvia Latvia61144

League D1

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Q San Marino flag San Marino42117
2 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar41306
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein40222

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Q Republic of Moldova Moldova43019
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3 Andorra flag Andorra40131


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