A victory in Modena, Italy, was needed to ensure that Sweden's hopes were not dashed ahead of Wednesday's group stage match against Slovakia.
Sweden fell behind 0–2 against Greece, before playing one of their best sets of the European Championship. 25–17 meant a reduction to 1–2, but Sweden then failed to continue at the same level.
The Greeks won the fourth set 25–20 and the match was over.
We started far too badly, the first and second sets were far too uneven, says Alfred Brink.
It is the first time since 1993 that Sweden's men's volleyball team has played in the European Championship.
