Croatia clinched the final automatic qualifying spot for Euro 2024 on Tuesday as Wales were forced to settle for a play-off place, while France had to come from behind to draw in Greece
France's win in their last outing this season follows their 3-0 defeat of minnows Gibraltar last Friday and leaves them clear on top of qualifying Group B with 12 points from four games.
Spain were held to a 1-1 draw by Greece in their opening 2022 World Cup qualifier on Thursday with the visitors earning a point from a disputed penalty.
Euro Qualifiers: Italy qualified for Euro 2020 thanks to a 2-0 win over Greece in Rome.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who suffered heartbreak in the 2004 Euro final when Portugal lost to Greece, will be determined to add an international trophy in his cabinet ahead of the 2016 Euro final against France
Greece football players called for strike action for the third round of Greek Cup from December 15-17. Lot of footballers were not compensated by financially troubled teams
Claudio Ranieri had signed a 1.6 million euro worth contract in July to coach the Greeks for the next two years, replacing Portugal's Fernando Santos.
In a hotly-contested match, both Costa Rica and Greece fought hard but the former took the match 5-3 in penalties to create history and enter quarterfinals of FIFA World Cup 2014 for the first time ever.
Greece trailed for most parts of the match to finally score in stoppage time.Costa Rica however managed to nudge ahead in a thrilling penalty shootout to advance - a historic achievement for the side.
Greece have developed a reputation over the years of being extremely hard to break down, particularly if they take the lead. Costa Rica, therefore, have their task cut out for the last 16 clash.
Georgios Samaras was adjudged to have been brought down by substitute Giovanni Sio and he calmly slotted in the spot kick for the win that puts Greece through to the knockout stage. Ivory Coast would have advanced with a draw.
France, who never went past the pool stages since the introduction of the event in 1979, showed tremendous fighting spirit and came from a goal down to beat Malaysia 3-1 in the shoot-out after both the teams were locked at 1-1 at the regulation time.
France will be up against the winners of the match between Korea and Malaysia.
While Australia blanked Spain 2-0, France rallied to eke out a laborious 3-2 win over Argentina.
France will start with Honduras in the south of the country in Porto Alegre on June 15, before going north to Salvador to tackle Switzerland on June 20, and then returning to their base camp in Rio de Janeiro for the final group match against Ecuador on June 25.
Simon Martin Brisac scored two goals for France while Hugo Genestet and Pieter van Straaten added one each.
Lionel Messi says apart from Argentina, hosts Brazil, Germany, Spain and France are his favourite teams to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Record unemployment, tax hikes and a stagnant economy -- they were all forgotten briefly on Wednesday as the country united in celebration of its football team's gutsy comeback against Ukraine to clinch a place at next year's finals in Brazil.