Despite winning a major tournament a decade ago, Greece have been unable to transfer their successful tactic from the European to the world stage.

Brazil will be their third World Cup but they are yet to make it out of the group stage.

In 1994 they failed to score or pick up a single point.

Four years ago they managed to win a game but still found themselves out at the group stage.

But this year could see a change in fortunes. With a group containing Ivory Coast, Colombia and Japan they have a very good chance of reaching the knock-out stages for the first time.

Not known for scoring many goals, they managed to score 12 goals in 10 games in the group stage.

Finishing with eight wins, one draw and one loss, Greece had to settle for second behind Bosnia on goal difference.

They then faced Romania in the two-legged play-offs and after a successful 3-1 victory in the first leg, they were able to relax in the second and played out a 1-1 draw.

If they are to progress through the group stages then Borussia Dortmund’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos will be key, especially as Olympiakos’s Dimitris Siovas will miss out due to the broken ankle he suffered back in January.

Siovas’s team-mate Kostas Manolas is likely to fill in for the 25-year-old but at 22, manager Fernando Santos may decide to go with the experience of 29-year-old Avraam Papadopoulos.

Captain Giorgos Karagounis is still the creative hub of the side but at 37 he often finds himself coming off the bench more often then not.

Fulham’s Kostas Mitroglou will be the difference maker up front. Since his £12 million move to the London club in January, he has been hit with a persistent knee injury and has struggled to find the form which saw him become one of the most lethal strikers in the Champions League before Christmas.

Celtic’s Georgios Samaras will be tasked with finding the back of the net if Mitroglou can’t while Dimitris Salpingidis will be used as the outlet on counter-attacks.

Verdict

Clean-sheets will be vital for Greece in order for them to stand any chance of progressing.

But too much depends on Mitroglou finding form again and there isn’t enough creativity for them to create enough clear-cut chances per game.

Another early exit.