Austria's dream burst: 0: 2 defeat against Serbia in Belgrade!

Austria's dream burst: 0: 2 defeat against Serbia in Belgrade!

Belgrad, Serbien - On March 23, 2025, the Austrian national team had to accept a bitter defeat in the Nation's League playoff. In Belgrade, the Serbia team lost 0-2 and thus missed the promotion to the A-Liga of the Nations League. This was the second appearance of the two teams in this order after the first leg in Vienna ended (1-1).

The goals for Serbia scored Nemanja Maksimovic in the 56th minute and Dušan Vlahović in the 90th minute. The Austrian players were able to build attack pressure over long distances of the game, but remained without scoring. Gernot Trauner saw the red card in the 68th minute, which made the game more difficult for Austria because they had to act outnumbered from the 67th minute.

play and opportunities

Austria dominated the action for 55 minutes, but was unable to take advantage of the opportunities offering. Ralf Rangnick's team fought very hard for the climb, but could not convince in crucial moments. Despite the late substitution of David Alaba, who returned after a lengthy injury, the team remained goalless. This was the second time in 29 international matches that Austria remained without its own goal. Finally, this happened in a 0: 1 against France at the EM 2024.

The memorable encounter meant that Austria was not able to record the last three games in retrospect: Slovenia (1: 1), Serbia (1: 1) and the following 0: 2. While the team is working towards the upcoming World Cup qualification, this setback remains in mind.

View of the World Cup qualification 2026

Austria is now facing a new challenge: the 2026 World Cup qualification, which starts in summer. The first game will take place on June 7th against Romania. The team was pulled out of pot 1 and meets Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus and San Marino in Group H. The goal is a place in the first two to qualify directly for the World Cup.

In the current qualification list, Cyprus and Bosnia-Herzegovina have already scored the first three points, while Austria and Romania are still waiting for their first match. For the ÖFB team, it is now important to concentrate on the upcoming games and to use the potential in the squad in the best possible way. With a promising squad and the goal of participating in a World Cup finals after 25 years, Austria hopes for a successful qualification.

It remains to be seen how the team will present itself in the coming months and whether they can learn from the latest setbacks. The next games will be crucial to show the fans that the dream of returning to the World Cup is not just a distant goal.

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