Preview: Greece vs Slovakia - prediction, team news, lineups

Greece and Slovakia will lock horns in an international friendly on the island of Crete on Saturday night.

After differing fortunes for these two in UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation playoffs in March, neither are in competitive action this month, with their World Cup qualifying campaigns not beginning until September.

Match preview

It was a memorable March for Greece’s young squad, as they earned promotion to League A of the Nations League for the first time, overturning a 1-0 home defeat to Scotland by winning 3-0 at Hampden Park in a dominant display.

That was the second time in six months that Greece had visited the British Isles and left with a famous victory, as they also won at Wembley against England last autumn during the group stage campaign in League B.

Ivan Jovanovic’s men were very unfortunate not to go up automatically, taking 15 points from a possible 18, but England pipped them to top spot on goal difference, so Greece had to take the scenic route through the playoffs.

With League A action on the horizon when the UNL gets underway again in 2026-27, that should provide Greece with a great opportunity to reach Euro 2028, having a guaranteed playoff spot to fall back on.

Qualifying for the 2026 World Cup is first on the agenda though, and the Greek squad will be keen to avenge the extremely disappointing defeat they suffered against Georgia in the Euro 2024 playoffs, which extended their non-qualifying streak to six tournaments.

Greece will renew acquaintances with Scotland in qualifying for the World Cup, while also facing Denmark, in what is a wide-open group that is tough to call, but will provide one of the non-elite nations with a berth at the finals.

Preparation begins here with a friendly against Slovakia, who will also begin qualifying in September, when they go head-to-head with Germany, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg.

A playoff place looks to be their best bet, with only the group winners being assured of a spot at the finals, but after edging Luxembourg out in Euro 2024 qualifying, the Falcons will be confident of finishing second.

Francesco Calzona’s men were mere minutes from knocking England out of Euro 2024 in the last 16, but that devastating extra-time defeat should motivate them to reach another major tournament, in what would be their first World Cup since 2010.

The visitors do enter this international window on the back of a disappointing playoff against Slovenia in March though, where defeat after extra time means they will remain in League C for the next edition of the Nations League.

Calzona’s side only finished second behind Sweden in a very difficult group, considering it was in the third tier, despite picking up 13 points from a possible 18, so the performances have been there, but they are just lacking a little bit of luck.

Greece form (all competitions):

Slovakia form (all competitions):

Team News

The big question in the Greece side surrounds who will start in goal, with Odysseas Vlachodimos now inactive at Newcastle, so Christos Mandas, who had plenty of game time at Lazio this season, will compete with Olympiacos stopper Konstantinos Tzolakis for the number one jersey.

Captain Anastasios Bakasetas is the only player in the squad with more than a half-century of caps, but he will be joined by Giorgos Masouras in that club if he features here.

It is a very similar squad to the one that beat Scotland over two legs in March, and many will be keeping a close eye on their two talented youngsters - Konstantinos Karetsas and Christos Mouzakitis - who dazzled at Hampden Park in their 3-0 win.

There is much more experience in the Slovakia squad, where Robert Bozenik and David Hancko both won their 50th cap in the second leg of their playoff against Slovenia in March.

Denis Vavro and Adam Obert both pulled out of that squad with injury, but the defensive duo have since returned at club level, and could feature here.

Attacker David Strelec was also struck down with injury in March, but he finished the campaign in excellent form at Slovan Bratislava, scoring five goals in his final three games of the season.

Greece possible starting lineup:

Tzolakis; Vagiannidis, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas; Zafeiris, Mouzakitis; Karetsas, Konstantelias, Tzolis; Pavlidis

Slovakia possible starting lineup:

Dubravka; Gyomber, Skriniar, Vavro, Hancko; Bero, Lobotka, Duda; Schranz, Bozenik, Suslov

We say: Greece 2-0 Slovakia

Greece have one of the most exciting squads in Europe at present, with a significant number of players under the age of 23, and they proved in March how much of a threat they are, wiping the floor with Scotland.

Slovakia have endured a mixed run of form since their exit form Euro 2024, and some of their key players have been dealing with injury in the latter stage of the season, and they could be slightly off it here.

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