Greece welcome Paraguay to Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki on Friday night for an international friendly contest.
The match will serve as one of the visitors’ preparation fixtures ahead of the World Cup, which the hosts disappointingly failed to qualify for.
Match preview
Friday’s contest will be Greece’s first back in action since disappointingly failing to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
After making an initially strong start in UEFA qualifying Group C, beating Belarus 5-1, just one win, one draw and three losses in their next four games meant they finished third in the standings.
As a result, Greece have now been unable to qualify for the three consecutive World Cup’s, since their elimination from the round of 16 in the 2014 tournament.
Ivan Jovanovic will be hoping his side can bounce back from that disappointment with positive performances in their upcoming friendlies against Paraguay and Hungary, ahead of the start of their UEFA Nations League campaign in September.
Greece will face a Paraguay side who, in contrast to the hosts, are set to end their hiatus from the World Cup stage at the 2026 tournament.
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Paraguay enjoyed a fantastic CONMEBOL qualifying campaign, winning seven, drawing seven and losing just four of their 18 matches to finish sixth in the table, securing automatic qualification to the summer competition.
Gustavo Alfaro‘s side, who were drawn alongside hosts USA, Australia and the winner of UEFA playoff path C in Group D, will now appear in the competition for the first time since losing in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup.
Paraguay’s preparations for the tournament started in October 2025, drawing 2-2 with Japan before losses to South Korea (2-0) and USA (2-1).
Paraguay managed to end that streak with a 2-1 victory against Mexico in their last friendly fixture, and Alfaro’s team will be looking to build momentum from that win heading into the summer’s tournament.
The visitors will draw confidence from the last time these two sides met, having defeated Greece 2-0 back in June 2010.
Greece form (all competitions):
W L L L W D
Paraguay form (all competitions):
D W D L L W
Team News
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Christos Tzolis was Greece’s top scorer in their World Cup qualifying campaign, and the forward is expected to start on Friday, while teenage sensation Konstantinos Karetsas could start on the opposite flank.
Further back, a defensive four of Lazaros Rota, Panagiotis Retsos, Pantelis Hatzidiakos and Konstantinos Tsimikas should feature ahead of Odysseas Vlachodimos in goal.
Meanwhile, Paraguay named several fresh additions to their squad for their upcoming friendlies, including Mauricio Magalhaes, Gaston Olveira, Alexandro Maidana and Gustavo Caballero.
Antonio Sanabria and Damian Bobadilla scored in Paraguay’s 2-1 win against Mexico last time out, and the pair could both start against Greece.
Greece possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Rota, Retsos, Hatzidiakos, Tsimikas; Zafeiris, Triantis; Karetsas, Mantalos, Tzolis; Pavlidis
Paraguay possible starting lineup:
Gill; Benitez, Velazquez, Balbuena, Alderete; Ojeda, Galarza; Sosa, Bobadilla, Almiron; Sanabria
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We say: Greece 2-2 Paraguay
Greece will be eager to bounce back from the disappointment of failing to qualify for the World Cup, while Paraguay are looking to build momentum ahead of their appearance, leading us to expect a hard-fought stalemate.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.