Austria's football: almost 1-0 against Cyprus - victories, but no shine!

Austria's football: almost 1-0 against Cyprus - victories, but no shine!

Austria's national soccer team celebrated a narrow home win against Cyprus 1-0 in Linz on September 7, 2025. The victory that was won in front of a sold -out house marks the third victorious game in a row for the team under coach Ralf Rangnick. This was on the sidelines for the third time in the first game of the year and thus remains unbeaten in the new year. The previous two appearances under his direction also ended with victories.

Although the victory was celebrated, the performance of the ÖFB team, especially in the offensive game, was described as insufficient. The only goal of the game fell through a penalty that Christoph Baumgartner got out and Marcel Sabitzer converted. The player rating after the game showed that despite the scarce success, not all players could convince.

Individual criticism of the players

The allocation of grades for the players revealed some critical points. Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager received a good rating for his 90 minutes in the goal, thanks to the strong parades, although he was little challenged. Konrad Laimer, who acted as a right -back, showed offensive urge, but could not create any chances. Philipp Lienhart was also positive with a solid performance and many duels won.

David Alaba made a decisive contribution to the construction game and prepared the foul for the penalty, while Nicolas Seiwald delivered a weaker idea with many mistakes and ball losses. Particularly noteworthy, Xaver Schlager, who, as the best midfielder, showed a good overview, while Patrick Wimmer and Marko Arnautovic remained rather inconspicuous.

The substitution of Michael Gregoritsch at the second half proved to be a better option after it has been integrated into the game. Kevin Danso and Stefan Posch performed solid appearances, although Posch received a yellow card and suffered from a lack of game practice. Florian Grillitsch came into play too late to get an assessment.

Rangnick's balance sheet and outlook

With this victory in the back, the Austrian national team is now looking at the next big event: On Thursday, the play-off first leg for the National League promotion against Serbia is pending. The appearance against Cyprus follows the success in the previous year when Christoph Baumgartner scored the world record for the fastest goal in Bratislava, and the team achieved a 4-1 win in the European Championship qualification against Azerbaijan.

The overall record of the first caps since 1945 shows that Austria was victorious in 31 cases, suffered 32 defeats and reached 17 draws. The last annual opening games have only had a defeat in the past five years. This fact strengthens the moral basis for the upcoming duel and gives fans hope for more.

The Austrian national soccer team looks back on a rich and moving story. It was founded in 1902, and since then the team has celebrated numerous successes, including third place in the 1954 World Cup and participating in several European championships. The challenge now is to build on these successes and qualify for future competitions.

Further details on the past services can be found in the reports of Laola1,, kicker and the comprehensive historical overview in Wikipedia.