Greece v Romania background

Greece eliminated Romania in the play-offs to reach the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals and will hope to secure another home victory in Group F, in the sides' first UEFA European Championship encounter.

Match background
• The sides have met 32 times at senior level, with Greece's record in those games reading W6 D9 L17 (W5 D5 L5 in Greece – W1 D3 L11 in Romania). These matches include two friendlies played on neutral territory – a win for Romania in Belgrade in 1932 and a 2-2 draw in Sofia in 1935 – but not Greece's 3-2 win against Romania on 12 May 2002, which is not classed as an official FIFA game.

• The balance of power between the two nations has shifted in recent years; it took 16 attempts for Greece to record their first win against Romania, 2-1 in Athens on 13 December 1978. Things are now much more even: since the turn of the millennium, Greece's six official games against Romania have ended W3 D1 L2.

• The sides have never met in UEFA competition, but have been paired in four editions of the FIFA World Cup; Romania beat Greece twice in the 1958 qualifiers, the sides drew twice in 1970 qualifying, and Romania won 3-0 at home and drew 0-0 away in the run-up to the 1990 finals.

• Their most recent competitive encounters came in the play-offs for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. Fernando Santos's Greece beat Romania 3-1 in the first leg in Piraeus on 15 November 2013, Kostas Mitroglou (29, 67) scoring twice, after efforts from Romania's Bogdan Stancu (19) and team-mate Dimitris Salpingidis (21), in a 3-1 home win. Mitroglou (23) struck again in the return leg in Bucharest, with Vassilis Torossidis' own goal (55) failing to spark a revival for Victor Piţurcă's side, the game ending 1-1.

• In 14 UEFA age-group meetings with Romania, Greece's record is W10 D0 L4.

• In the 28 UEFA competition fixtures between Greek and Romanian clubs, the Greek sides' record is W11 D2 L15, though the Greek side has won the last three encounters without conceding.