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In their final outing of the summer, Italy will head to Heraklion to take on Greece in an international friendly on Sunday.
Both nations set out to qualify for the upcoming World Cup but fell short, leaving them with a final contest before returning to UEFA Nations League action in September.
Read our prediction, preview and betting tips for the game below, and make sure to check out our today's betting tips page for more of our expert predictions.
Greece vs. Italy key stats
- Greece have won just one of their last eight games in all competitions.
- Fifteen players made their debut for Italy in Wednesday's friendly.
- Italy have won eight of their last 10 games and made a triumphant start under Silvio Baldini last time out.
Greece vs. Italy preview: Can new-look Italy squad deliver back-to-back wins after missing World Cup?
| Greece | vs | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| 47 | FIFA Ranking | 12 |
| Giorgos Masouras (59) | Most Caps | Gianluigi Donnarumma (82) |
| Giorgos Masouras (11) | Most Goals | Pio Esposito (4) |
| 597 | Total Caps | 272 |
| 40 | Total Goals | 108 |
| 2 | Uncapped Players | 4 |
Greece will play their final game of the 2026 summer on Sunday aiming to get back to winning ways, having gone four games winless across friendlies and the end of an unsuccessful World Cup Qualifying campaign.
The Ethniki missed out on a sixth consecutive major championship having finished third in their four-nation qualifying group on seven points from six matches, four points short of a playoff place, as they ended with a goalless stalemate against Belarus in November.
Aiming for a fresh start, their first action came in a pair of friendlies in March, in which Ivan Jovanovic's team lost 1-0 to Paraguay and played out a goalless stalemate against Hungary, before facing a testing pair of June friendlies with a squad headlined by the likes of Kostas Tsimikas, Benfica star Vangelis Pavlidis and Christos Tzolis, who notched up 17 goals and 23 assists in 36 Belgian Pro League games for Club Brugge in 2025/26.
Greece have not conceded a first-half goal in their last five matches.
With key defender Tasos Bakasetas one of the only notable absences, they first met World Cup-bound Sweden in a friendly on Thursday and came away with a creditable 2-2 draw, having led early through Tsimikas and pulled level in injury time through Georgios Masouras.
Greece will now hope to build on that performance and manage a home victory to raise confidence before kicking off a new UEFA Nations League campaign in September.
Their visitors, meanwhile, head into their second June friendly as the highest-ranked side to miss out on the upcoming World Cup.
Indeed, after their shock failures to reach the 2018 and 2022 iterations, Italy again fell short of qualifying for the summer's tournament, having finished second in their group behind Norway, beaten Northern Ireland in their playoff semi-final and fallen at the final hurdle against Bosnia & Herzegovina, drawing 1-1 in normal time and losing the decisive penalty shootout.
Italy have kept six clean sheets in their last 10 games.
That March loss brought an end to Gennaro Gattuso's tenure as manager, and alongside the introduction of interim Baldini came many squad changes with Gil Azzurri calling up many debutants and opting to test younger players after a tough campaign, leaving goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma as the only senior member of the squad.
They made a winning start under Baldini on Wednesday, visiting Luxembourg and picking up a 1-0 victory with Francesco Pio Esposito on the scoresheet, with Esposito the only member of the squad with an international goal to his name in a crop lacking the likes of Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui and Giacomo Raspadori together with Nicolo Barella, Manuel Locatelli, Sandro Tonali and Davide Frattesi and defenders Alessandro Bastoni, Federico Dimarco and Riccardo Calafiori.
With positive signs in an albeit slim victory against low-ranked opposition, this inexperienced Italy squad will now hope to make it two wins from two games in June before integrating their key men back in for a fresh start in the UEFA Nations League later this year.
Greece vs. Italy form guide & betting tips
| Greece | vs | Italy |
|---|---|---|
WDLDD |
Form | WLWLW |
| 5 | Goals For | 7 |
| 5 | Goals Against | 5 |
LDD |
Friendlies | L |
Whispers predicts: Greece 2-1 Italy
Italy headed into their friendlies with a squad lacking experience on the international stage and only managed a one-goal victory over Luxembourg, while Greece showed their quality in a draw against a strong Sweden team last time out. We fancy Greece to win on home soil at 1/1 (2.0).
Greece have kept just two clean sheets in their last nine attempts, though, conceding 15 goals in that time, and we can see the visitors finding a way through. Both Teams to Score is priced at 7/10 (1.70).
Given their lack of experience, Italy's attack is bound to be built around Francesco Pio Esposito, who, at 20 years old, has managed four goals in eight caps including the winner last time out. He will lead the line and is priced at 5/2 (3.50) to score anytime.
> Greece to win at 1/1 (2.0) | Likelihood: Probable
> Both Teams to Score at 7/10 (1.70) | Likelihood: Likely
> Francesco Pio Esposito to score anytime at 5/2 (3.50) | Likelihood: Possible