Austria starts 2-1 against Romania in World Cup qualifications!

Austria starts 2-1 against Romania in World Cup qualifications!

Ernst-Happel-Stadion, 1030 Wien, Österreich - Austria's national soccer team took an important step towards the World Cup participation in the Ernst Happel Stadium on June 7, 2025 with a 2-1 home win against Romania. The win was a measure of the World Cup qualification, for which Austria is again striving to participate in a world championship after more than 25 years. Ralf Rangnick, the team boss, realizes how important this victory was for the morale of the team and was happy even though he found some problems with the body -hugging play of the Romanians at the beginning.

"I don't feel a burden, but anticipation," said Rangnick after the game. Austria dominated the encounter from the 15th minute and was finally able to take the lead through goals from Michael Gregoritsch in the 42nd minute and Marcel Sabitzer in the 60th minute. Romania was only able to score the connecting goal in the 95th minute through Denis Alibec. In the final quarter of an hour, however, Rangnick was dissatisfied with his team's performance, especially because of the approved counterattack.

Next challenges and outlook

The next game is on the program against San Marino on Tuesday. San Marino previously had to give up Bosnia-Herzegovina 0: 1. Rangnick warned of an opponent's contempt and sees the need to act with full commitment so as not to get in the risk of losing points. In the current table of group H, Austria is only in fourth place, together with Cyprus, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania are at the top.

The interaction with service providers such as Marko Arnautović, who could approach Toni Polster's Torrecord, as well as Gernot Trauner, who could return to the starting formation after his lock, will be crucial for the upcoming games. Goalkeeper Patrick Pentz also showed an error -free performance against Romania, while Alexander Schlager, who is currently suffering from a wrist injury, may be available again in September.

The World Cup qualification at a glance

Austria has had a lot of trouble qualifying for a World Cup finals in recent years. The ÖFB team failed six times in a row, since 1998 in a World Cup. In Group H you meet:

• Romania
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Cyprus
• San Marino

"The goal is clear: we want to be a group winner and not be dependent on play-off games," said Rangnick. The pressure is high, especially since the Austrian national team was able to show services in the run-up to the World Cup qualification, but the euphoria is limited as long as the necessary points are not collected.

with Christoph Baumgartner, who emphasized the importance of victory in the first game, and Austria hopes that the positive development under Ralf Rangnick will continue, while the country will hope for David Alaba's return after his cruciate ligament rupture. The fans can look forward to an exciting qualification round.

Oe24.at reports , Fussball-wm.pro reports , Noen.at reports .