 | |||
| 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 | ||
| |||
| 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 | ||
.jpg)
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.
