Greece
Greece will struggle to repeat their Euro 2004 heroics at the World Cup Wikipedia

Manager: Fernando Santos

World Ranking: 12

Best World Cup finish: Group stage 1994 and 2010

How they qualified: Second in UEFA Group G before defeating Romania in a playoff

Fixtures: Group C - Columbia (14 June), Japan (19 June), Ivory Coast (24 June)

Squad -

Goalkeepers: Orestis Karnezis, Panagiotis Glykos, Stefanos Kapino

Defenders: Kostas Manolas, Giannis Maniatis, Jose Holebas, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Giorgios Tzavellas, Loukas Vyntra, Vasilis Torosidis, Vangelis Moras

Midfielders: Alexandros Tziolis, Andreas Samaris, Kostas Katsouranis, Giorgos Karagounis, Panagiotis Tachtsidis, Ioannis Fetfatzidis, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Panagiotis Kone

Forwards: Dimitris Salpingidis, Georgios Samaras, Konstantinos Mitroglou, Theofanis Gekas

Expectations: Greece's victory at Euro 2004 as 150-1 outsiders was one of international football's biggest shocks and catapulted them into the top 20 of Fifa's world rankings, where they have remained for all but two months since the historic win. Though Fernando Santos has avoided tournament favourites, Colombia, Japan and the Ivory Coast all have realistic chances of progressing from Group C. A win against Colombia in their first game on 14 June is vital if they are to avoid merely becoming tourists in Brazil, as is the form of Konstantinos Mitroglou, who Fulham lavished £11 million on in January but played just 120 minutes as the Cottagers were relegated.

Star man: Giorgos Karagounis – At 37, the grizzled Greek is running out of steam and Brazil is likely to be the captain's last international tournament. But Karagounis, who with 134 appearances is Greece's most capped player, will be a shield against the strong opposition midfields of Group C rivals Japan and the Ivory Coast.

Prediction: Group stage – Beyond Greece's dreams that they could 'do a Greece' and win the tournament against all odds.