The Euro 2024 qualifying campaign kicks off with the first of 10 matches as the tiny nation of Gibraltar takes on 2004 European champions Greece at the Estadio Algarve in Faro, Portugal. Group B also contains world football giants France and the Netherlands, as well as an always dangerous Ireland side. It looks set to be a competitive group and both of these sides could be viewing this match as a mandatory three points if they are to claim one of the two qualifying spots. Of course, with Gibraltar holding the FIFA ranking of 200, they are not expected to seriously threaten any of the other teams in the group. The main goal for manager Julio Cesar Ribas and his side will be to stay as competitive as possible. Gibraltar is actually coming off two wins on the bounce over Liechtenstein and Andorra so confidence should be high. However, they’ll face a significant jump in quality against Greece and even a draw in this match would be viewed as a big surprise.
Greece has a golden opportunity to get off to a fast start and put three early points on the board here. The Sky Blue and Whites were disappointingly unable to qualify for the previous two editions of this tournament. Their last appearance was in 2012 where they would go on to make the quarter finals. Greece had a positive UEFA Nations League campaign, winning five of its six matches to top Group 2 in League C of the tournament. Since then, Greece has played in two friendly matches: a 2-2 away draw with Malta and a 2-1 away loss to Hungary. Manager Gus Poyet will try to get his men back on track here and simply have to win this match against a minnow in Gibraltar.
Gus Poyet has delivered in competitive matches for Greece since taking over at the start of 2022. The team should be able to carry over its UEFA Nations League form into the first match of qualifying and come out of the blocks with the three points. Expect the visitors to win this match by a comfortable margin, as a multiple goal victory certainly appears to be on the cards. Our Gibraltar vs Greece prediction: Greece team total over 2.5 goals