Veljko Paunovic’s depleted Serbia look to rebound from World Cup heartbreak in Belgrade as back-to-back promoted Greece unleashes a fresh wave of talent in this League A opener with former Olympiacos players leading the squad.
After missing out on the 2026 World Cup, Serbia welcome Greece at the Stadion Rajko Mitic in Belgrade to kick off their respective Nations League campaigns.
Serbia's third place finish in their qualifying group meant that they were just a point away from Albania, who went to the World Cup playoffs. Following a 2-0 defeat to England in their second-last qualification game, Serbia concluded their run for the World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Latvia on 16 November 2025.
The Eagles played four friendlies this year ahead of the big tournament against Spain, Saudi Arabia, Cabo Verde and Mexico. They could only edge past Saudi Arabia, and lost each of the other three matches. Head coach Veljko Paunovic offered to resign after the defeat against Cabo Verde, but the national team stuck with him, and he has personally also moved on from the underwhelming results.
Serbia finished third in their League A group for the Nations League's 2024-25 edition, and they stayed afloat by beating Austria 3-1 on aggregate in the subsequent relegation/promotion playoffs.
Serbia will be without likes the of star striker Dusav Vlahovic. AEK Athens' Luka Jovic is set to start upfront. Nikola Milenkovic, Predrag Rajkovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic are also set to be out.
Dusan Tadic was called up following his retirement after Euro 2024. PAOK's Andrija Zivkovic is in line to start on the wings.
Meanwhile, Greece open their League A Nations League campaign in an upbeat mood after securing back-to-back promotions from the League C. The Azure and White concluded their World Cup qualification run with a goalless draw against Belarus before heading into four international friendlies. They picked up two draws against Hungary and Sweden, while losing to Paraguay and Italy by narrow margins.
Greece head coach Ivan Jovanovic called up former Olympiacos goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis, who is settling well into life in England with Hull City. Christos Mouzakitis was also called up as part of the midfield contingent. Olympiacos have another academy graduate featuring in the squad, with Brighton's Charalampos Kostoulas making the list.
Jovanovic took two members from the Red and Whites' squad, such as Panagiotis Retsos and the match-winner against Levadiakos, Manolis Saliakas.
The Greek National Team have undoubtedly found themselves under a surge of talent. The attack is set to be led by Arsenal's Christos Tzolis and NEOM's Georgios Masouras.
Here are the predicted line-ups for the Serbia vs. Greece match
Serbia (4-2-3-1): V. Milinkovic-Savic; Nedeljkovic, Pavlovic, Erakovic, Bukinac; Lukic, S. Milinkovic-Savic; Zivkovic, Tadic, Kostic; Jovic.
Greece (3-4-3): Vlachodimos; Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Restos; Vagiannidis, Mouzakitis, Kourbelis, Tsimikas; Masouras, Kostoulas, Tzolis.
