Greece spent most of their history in relative obscurity, having participated only twice in the final tournaments of the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship, in 1994 and 1980 respectively. But it was in the UEFA Euro 2004, when Greece were crowned European champions in only their second participation in the tournament, in one of international football's greatest surprises. The Greeks, dismissed as rank outsiders before the tournament with bookmakers giving odds of between 80–1 to 150–1 for them to win, defeated some of the favourites in the competition including defending champions France and hosts Portugal; the latter succumbed twice to Greece, the first time coming in the inaugural game of the tournament and the second in the final.
Since then, Greece have received several distinctions for their triumph and have reached a higher status in international football. They have also been proven more competitive than they used to be and often reach high places in the FIFA World Rankings. Furthermore, the team attracts large numbers of fans not only at home matches, a rare phenomenon in the previous years, but even when they play abroad, providing the team with great support. For instance, a friendly clash between Australia and Greece in 2006 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in Melbourne, Australia, set a stadium attendance record for association football attracting 95,103 fans, a portion of whom originated from the large Greek Australian community.
World Cup 2010
By way of the November 2007 FIFA World Rankings, Greece was seeded in Pot A for the European zone group stage draw for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. They were drawn into Group 2 with Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia and Luxembourg. Greece's group stage campaign began and ended with matches against Luxembourg on 6 September 2008 and 14 October 2009. While earning only three clean sheets in ten qualifying games, Greece relied heavily upon the scoring prowess of Theofanis Gekas, who led all Europeans in scoring with 10 goals. Two losses to Switzerland placed the Greeks one point behind the Swiss group winners, leaving Greece's 2010 World Cup hopes to be decided in a play-off with Group 6 runner-up Ukraine. A 0-0 tie in Athens preceded a 0-1 second-leg Greek triumph in Donetsk to secure a spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Greece Team Profile Matches Road to 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
 |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | – | 2 – 1 | 5 – 2 | 2 – 1 | 3 – 0 | 1 – 2 |
| Israel | 1 – 1 | – | 0 – 1 | 7 – 0 | 3 – 1 | 2 – 2 |
| Latvia | 0 – 2 | 1 – 1 | – | 2 – 0 | 3 – 2 | 2 – 2 |
| Luxembourg | 0 – 3 | 1 – 3 | 0 – 4 | – | 0 – 0 | 0 – 3 |
| Moldova | 1 – 1 | 1 – 2 | 1 – 2 | 0 – 0 | – | 0 – 2 |
| Switzerland | 2 – 0 | 0 – 0 | 2 – 1 | 1 – 2 | 2 – 0 | – |
Greece team last standing position 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 8 | +10 | 21 |
| Greece | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 10 | +10 | 20 |
| Latvia | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 17 |
| Israel | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 10 | +10 | 16 |
| Luxembourg | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 25 | −21 | 5 |
| Moldova | 10 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 18 | −12 | 3 |
Play off
Greece Vs Ukraine, Score 0:0, 1:0
Greece Team Record in FIFA World Cup
| Year | Round | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1930 | Did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1934 | Withdrew during qualifying | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1938 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1950 | Did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1954 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1958 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1962 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1966 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1970 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1974 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1978 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1982 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1986 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1990 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1994 | Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| 1998 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  2002 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2006 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 2010 | Qualified | ||||||
| Total | 2/19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |