Austria national football team

The Austria national football team (German: Österreichische Fußballnationalmannschaft) is the country's representative team in official competitions. It is organized by the Austrian Football Association, part of UEFA. Austria has not won any Soccer World Cup, its best participation being in Switzerland 54 and its last in France 98. It has also participated in three Euro Cups, the first in 2008 where it hosted alongside Switzerland and the most recent in Euro 2020., where he reached his best participation reaching the round of 16.

History

Before World War II

The Austrian Football Association ("ÖFB") was founded on March 18, 1904 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Max Scheuer, a Jewish defender who played for the Austrian national football team in 1923, was later murdered during the Holocaust at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The team enjoyed success in the 1930s under coach Hugo Meisl, becoming a dominant team in Europe and earning the nickname 'Wunderteam'. The star of the team was Matthias Sindelar. On 16 May 1931, they were the first continental European team to defeat Scotland. In the 1934 Soccer World Cup, Austria finished fourth after losing 1-0 to Italy in the semifinals and 3-2 to Germany in the third place playoff. They were runners-up in the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, again losing to Italy 2-1, despite having been defeated in the quarterfinals by Peru, after the Peruvians withdrew. However, according to an investigation, Peru's surprise victory was deliberately annulled by Adolf Hitler to favor the Austrians.

The team qualified for the 1938 Soccer World Cup, but Austria was annexed by Germany in the Anschluss on March 12 of that year. On 28 March, FIFA was notified that the ÖFB had been abolished, resulting in the team's withdrawal from the World Cup. Instead, the German team would represent the former Austrian territory. Theoretically, a united team could have been an even stronger force than each of the separate ones, but German coach Sepp Herberger had little time and very few games to prepare and merge the very different playing styles and attitude. Austrian ex-pros outclassed athletic but amateur players from the "Old Empire" in a "reunification" derby that was supposed to It would end in a draw, but in the final minutes, the Austrians scored twice, with Matthias Sindelar also demonstratively missing the German goal, subsequently declining to be capped by Germany. In a later rematch, the Germans got their revenge and won 9-1. In early April, Herberger asked if two separate teams could enter anyway, but the "Reichssportführer" Hans von Tschammer und Osten made it clear that he expected to see a 5:6 or 6:5 ratio of players from the two teams so far. As a result, five players from Austria Vienna, Rapid Vienna and First Vienna FC were part of the team that only managed a 1-1 draw in the first match against Switzerland, which required a rematch. With Rapid Vienna forward Hans Pesser sent off and two others dissatisfied, Herberger had to change the lineup in six positions to once again meet the 6:5 quota. The all-German team led the Swiss 2-0 after 15 minutes, but eventually lost 4-2 in Paris in front of a rather anti-German, French and Swiss crowd, as few German fans were able to travel to France due to German restrictions.

After World War II

After World War II, Austria again separated from Germany. Austria's best result came in 1954 led by Ernst Ocwirk. Where they lost in the semi-finals 6-1 to eventual champions Germany, but finished third after beating defending champion Uruguay 3-1. Over the years, a strong but mainly unequal rivalry developed with Germany.

In the 1958 Soccer World Cup in Sweden the Austrian team was a disappointment. Losses to eventual champions Brazil, the emerging Soviet Union and a draw against a weakened England (who were rebuilding after the loss of several of their key players due to the Munich air disaster) prevented the team from reaching the next round.. Still maintaining great popularity in the country, under new coach Karl Decker, they once again caused an international sensation in the era. In front of a record crowd of over 90,000 spectators, which was made possible by the expansion of the Ernst Happel Stadium, the team was able to beat the Soviet Union 3-1 and Spain 3-0. However, due to lack of money, Austria decided not to participate in the 1962 World Cup in Chile, and the team collapsed. The abrupt end of Austria's success in the post-war period led to the clear 0-6 defeat against Czechoslovakia in 1962, from which many players and also Karl Decker did not recover.

After the end of the Decker era, the team could not connect with the old hits for a long time; these were mainly limited to surprise victories in individual games. Due to the great popularity of the Austrian team, on October 20, 1965, Austria managed to be the third team on the continent to defeat England at home. Toni Fritsch, who was then nicknamed 'Wembley Toni', scored twice in a 3-2 victory. However, Austria failed for the first time to qualify for the 1966 Football World Cup, finishing third after Hungary and East Germany; They managed only one draw at home and then failed to win a single match. In the summer of 1968, Leopold Šťastný, the successful Slovak coach of the Wacker Innsbruck took over the team. Despite failing to qualify for the 1970 World Cup, the new coach emphasized developing new players rather than relying on the old guard. Supported by great football euphoria, Austria came very close to qualifying for the World Cup held in Germany. They finished tied for first place with Sweden, even in goals and goal difference, so a tiebreaker was needed for qualification, which was held in Gelsenkirchen. In order to have enough time to prepare, the championship round was suspended and the stadium in Gelsenkirchen was prepared five days before the playoff. On snow-covered ground, Austria lost 1-2, but with numerous missed chances, including hitting the crossbar.

Return to a World Cup after 20 years: Argentina 78 and Spain 82

Led by Herbert Prohaska and striker Hans Krankl, and backed by Bruno Pezzey, Austria reached the World Cup in 1978 and 1982 and reached the second round on both occasions. This Austrian team, coached by Helmut Senekowitsch, is widely considered the best post-World War II Austrian team.

In Argentina 78, they started by winning two games, against Spain and Sweden in addition to losing against Brazil; They finally passed the round behind Brazil, the Netherlands, Italy and West Germany were grouped together.

Having lost two games (a 5-1 rout against the Netherlands), and knowing that they would surely finish last in their group, they made a special effort for their last game in Córdoba against West Germany. The Austrians denied the reigning world champion a trip to the third-place match, beating them 3-2 with two goals from Hans Krankl, plus an own goal. The celebratory report by radio commentator Edi Finger (& # 34; I werd narrisch! & # 34;) became famous in Austria, where he is considered the & # 34; 'Miracle of Córdoba', while West Germans consider the Austrian game and behavior a shame.

During the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Austria again won its first two games; However, they faced West Germany again in the last game of the group stage. Because the other two teams in the group had played their final match the previous day, both teams knew that a one-goal victory for West Germany would qualify both teams, while all other results would eliminate one team or the other. After ten minutes of furious attacking, Horst Hrubesch scored for West Germany and the two teams mainly kicked the ball for 80 minutes with few attacking attempts. The match became known as the 'Gijon non-aggression pact'. Algeria had also won both of its matches, including a surprising upset over West Germany in the first match, but among the three teams that had won two matches, were eliminated on goal difference, having conceded two late goals in their 3–2 victory over Chile. The Algerian fans were furious, and even the Austrian and West German fans were extremely dissatisfied. As a result of this match, all future tournaments will see the last group matches played simultaneously. Austria and Northern Ireland were eliminated after losing to France in the second round of the group stage.

Irregular decade of the 90s

Led by striker Toni Polster, Austria qualified for the 1990 Soccer World Cup, but was eliminated in the first round, despite defeating the United States 2-1. Much worse was the surprising 1-0 defeat against the Faroe Islands, a team made up of amateurs, in the qualification campaign for Euro 1992, considered the Austrian team's worst embarrassment and one of the biggest surprises in football history.. The game was played in Landskrona, Sweden, because there were no grass fields in the Faroe Islands. It was a sign of things to come. Austria suffered another couple of years of failed qualification campaigns, despite playing entertaining football in the final stages of Euro 1996 qualification.

In the 1998 World Cup, Austria was in Group B along with Italy, Cameroon and Chile. Their appearance was brief but eventful, as they achieved the curious feat of only scoring in injury time in each of their games. Against Cameroon, Pierre Njanka's goal was disallowed by Toni Polster's late shot. In their second match, it was Ivica Vastici who equalized in the last minute. Austria was not so lucky in its crucial final match at the Stade de France. Italy scored two goals at half-time: a header from Christian Vieri and a tap-in from Roberto Baggio. Andi Herzog scored in injury time, but it was not enough to prevent Austria from being eliminated, behind Italy and Chile.

21st century

2000s: Beginning of decline

After 1998, Austria began to lower its level. They failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2000, and suffered embarrassment (similar to the Faroe Islands' defeat) when they lost 9-0 to Spain and 5-0 to Israel in 1999. In 2006, Josef Hickersberger became Austria's coach, which included some respectable results such as a 1-0 win against Switzerland in 2006.

Austria automatically qualified for Euro 2008 as co-host. In their first major tournament in the new decade, most commentators considered them outsiders and chauffeurs to Germany, Croatia and Poland in the group stage. Many compatriots agreed and 10,000 Austrians signed a petition demanding that Austria withdraw from the tournament to avoid embarrassment to the nation. However, Austria performed better than expected. They earned a 1-1 draw with Poland and lost 1-0 to favored Croatia and Germany.

Shortly after Austria's elimination in the first round of the tournament, Hickersberger resigned as coach of the national team. Karel Brückner, who had resigned as coach of the Czech Republic after that country's exit in the first round of the European Championship 2008, he was named as his replacement. After only eight months, Brückner was released in March 2009 and Dietmar Constantini subsequently took over.

2010s: Small revival and decline

In the qualifying campaign for Euro 2012, the Austrians played against Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Turkey and Germany.

Over the next few years, the Austrian team experienced a great renaissance. Several players from the 2007 U-20 team who finished fourth at the World Cup that year ended up developing and becoming full starters for the senior team, including Sebastian Prödl, Markus Suttner, Martin Harnik, Veli Kavlak, Erwin Hoffer, Zlatko Junuzović and Rubin Okotie.

The team did not qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but finished third with 17 points and a +10 goal difference in their qualifying group. There were a number of notable results, including home wins over the Republic of Ireland and Sweden, as well as a narrow home defeat to Germany and a 2-2 draw in Ireland in the rematch.

The qualification campaign for Euro 2016 was even more successful. Once again, the Austrians battled back and drew with the Swedes 1-1, before beating the same opponent in a 4-1 victory on Swedish soil. Austria also beat Russia twice at home and away with the score 1-0. Austria also recorded a pair of wins over Moldova (2-1 in Chișinău) and Montenegro (1-0 in Vienna). Rubin Okotie scored the decisive goal in the final 20 minutes of the match after an earlier Austrian goal a minute earlier was controversially disallowed. A week later, the team played a friendly match away against Brazil, losing 2-1. Austria ended its Euro 2016 qualifying campaign by topping the group undefeated, leading Austrians to be excited about a new golden generation.

However, despite this successful performance in qualifying, the tournament itself turned out to be a complete nightmare for the Austrians. Austria was grouped in Group F with Hungary, Portugal and Iceland, and was considered the favorite to advance to the round. Austria, however, opened their campaign with a shock 0-2 defeat to neighbors Hungary, in which defender Aleksandar Dragović was sent off. This was followed by an encouraging 0-0 draw against Portugal, in which Cristiano Ronaldo failed a penalty. However, Austria ended up losing 1-2 against debutants Iceland and was surprisingly eliminated with just one point.

Austria would then participate in Group D of the 2018 World Cup qualification along with Wales, Serbia, Ireland, Georgia and Moldova. However, the previous nightmare at the Euro Cup had a big impact on the Austrian team, and Austria finished the qualification in fourth place in the group, failing to qualify for the 2018 world cup.

Euro 2020 and qualifying failure

Austria was included in Group G of the Euro 2020 qualification along with Poland, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Israel and Latvia. Austria struggled in the early games after a loss to Poland at home and a shocking loss to Israel and another to Latvia. As the group became more competitive, Austria won six of the last nine matches and finished second in the group with nineteen points. Marko Arnautović led the team in goals and tied Robert Lewandowski with nine goals. Austria qualified for its Euro Cup. It was also the second time Austria qualified for a major tournament in a row since the 1954 and 1958 World Cups.

Austria was included in Group C of Euro 2020 along with the Netherlands, Ukraine and debutants North Macedonia. Austria started the first match with a 3-1 victory against North Macedonia. It was Austria's first victory at a European Championship and the first time they scored more than one goal in a group stage match. In the final group stage match, Austria needed a win to secure second place and defeated Ukraine 1-0. Austria finished second in the group and it was the first time they advanced to the knockout stages at the European Championships. They faced Italy in the round of 16 at Wembley Stadium and lost 2-1 after extra time with Sasa Kalajdzic scoring his only goal of the match in the 114th minute.

For the qualifiers towards Qatar 2022 Austria started with a draw, 2-2 against Scotland as a visitor; They had 5 wins, a draw and 4 losses against Scotland at home and Denmark at home and away and against Israel as a visitor. So its final place was 4th ahead of teams such as the Faroe Islands and Moldova, but due to its performance and positive coefficient in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League it managed to obtain a place in the World Cup playoffs, however They were eliminated after losing to Wales in the semi-finals of the play-offs by 2-1.

Uniform

Local 2020 - Actual

Visit 2021 - Actual

Rivalry

It maintains a football rivalry with its neighbors Hungary, Switzerland and Germany. The latter due to political conflicts in the past. And to a lesser extent against Slovakia, Slovenia and Czechia.

Latest matches and upcoming matches

Updated to the last match played on September 12, 2023

Date	City	Local	Outcome	Visitor	Competition
24-03-2023	Linz	AustriaAUT	4:1	AZEAzerbaijan	Euro Cup 2024
27-03-2023	Linz	AustriaAUT	2:1	ESTEstonia	Euro Cup 2024
17-06-2023	Brussels	BelgiumBEL	1:1	AUTAustria	Euro Cup 2024
20-06-2023	Vienna	AustriaAUT	2:0	SWESweden	Euro Cup 2024
07-09-2023	Linz	AustriaAUT	1:1	MDAMoldova	Friendly Party
12-09-2023	Solna	SwedenSWE	1:3	AUTAustria	Euro Cup 2024
13-10-2023	Vienna	AustriaAUT	-:	BELBelgium	Euro Cup 2024
16-10-2023	Baku	AzerbaijanAZE	-:	AUTAustria	Euro Cup 2024
16-11-2023	Tallinn	EstoniaEST	-:	AUTAustria	Euro Cup 2024
21-11-2023	Vienna	AustriaAUT	-:	GERGermany	Friendly Party

Statistics

Olympic Games

Olympic Games
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
1908	No.
1912	Final rooms	5	3	0	2	13	8
1920	No.
1924
1928
1936	Subfield	4	2	0	2	9	8
1948	First round	1	0	0	1	0	3
Total	3/7	10	5	0	5	22	19

Soccer World Cup

World Cup Soccer
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
1930	No.
1934	Fourth place	4	2	0	2	7	7
1938	Classified. Withdrawal
1950	No.
1954	Third place	5	4	0	1	17	12
1958	Group phase	3	0	1	2	2	7
1962	No.
1966	He didn't qualify.
1970
1974
1978	Second round	6	3	0	3	7	10
1982	Second round	5	2	1	2	5	4
1986	He didn't qualify.
1990	Group phase	3	1	0	2	2	3
1994	He didn't qualify.
1998	Group phase	3	0	2	1	3	4
2002	He didn't qualify.
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026	To dispute
Total	7/22	29	12	4	13	43	47

Euro Cup

Euro
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
1960	He didn't qualify.
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008	Group phase	3	0	1	2	1	3
2012	He didn't qualify.
2016	Group phase	3	0	1	2	1	4
2020	Final Octavos	4	2	0	2	5	5
2024	To dispute
Total	3/16	10	2	2	6	7	12

UEFA Nations League

EUFA League of Nations
Year	L	G	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
2018-19	B	3	Second place	4	2	1	1	3	2
2020-21	B	1	First place	6	4	1	1	9	6
2022-23	A	1	Fourth place	6	1	1	4	5	7
Total			3/3	16	7	3	6	17	15

Players

Last call

The following players were summoned for the qualifying matches for the Eurocopa 2024 against AZEAzerbaijan and ESTEstonia.

N.o	Name	Position	Age	PJ	Goles	Equipment
1	Heinz Lindner	Porter	33 years	36	0	F. C. Sion
12	Patrick Pentz	Porter	26 years	4	0	Bayer Leverkusen
13	Niklas Hedl	Porter	22 years	1	0	Rapid Vienna
2	Andreas Ulmer	Defence	37 years	32	0	Red Bull Salzburg
3	Kevin Danso	Defence	25 years	13	0	R. C. Lens
4	Jonas Auer	Defence	23 years	0	0	Rapid Vienna
5	Stefan Posch	Defence	26 years	22	1	Bologna
8	David Alaba	Defence	31 years	99	15	Real Madrid
15	Flavius Daniliuc	Defence	22 years	1	0	Salernitana
16	Phillipp Mwene	Defence	29 years	5	0	PSV
-	Maximilian Wöber	Defence	25 years	14	0	Leeds United
-	Gernot Trauner	Defence	31 years	10	1	Feyenoord
6	Nicolas Seiwald	Camper center	22 years	12	0	Red Bull Salzburg
7	Roman Schmid	Camper center	23 years	4	0	Werder Bremen
9	Marcel Sabitzer	Camper center	29 years	69	14	Borussia Dortmund
14	Leave Ljubičić	Camper center	26 years	6	1	1. FC Cologne
17	Florian Kainz	Camper center	30 years	23	1	1. FC Cologne
19	Christoph Baumgartner	Camper center	24 years	27	8	1899 Hoffenheim
20	Konrad Laimer	Camper center	26 years	26	2	Bayern de Munich
23	Alexander Prass	Camper center	22 years	1	0	Sturm Graz
10	Andreas Weimann	Delantero	32 years	21	1	Bristol City
11	Michael Gregoritsch	Delantero	29 years	45	9	Freiburg
18	Karim Onisiwo	Delantero	31 years	21	1	Mainz 05
21	Patrick Wimmer	Delantero	22 years	3	0	VfL Wolfsburg
22	Junior Adamu	Delantero	22 years	5	0	Red Bull Salzburg
DT	Ralf Rangnick	Coach	65 years

Larger participations

• Updated in June 2023.

Top scorers

• Updated as of March 29, 2023.

Coaches

Palmarés

• International Cup of Central Europe (1): 1931-32.
• Ascense to the League of Nations of UEFA League A as a group champion (1): 2020 (no champion title)