Austria's football dreams: Nations League defeat shocked fans!

Austria's football dreams: Nations League defeat shocked fans!

Austria's national team had to accept a bitter defeat in Belgrade on March 23, 2025. As part of the Nations League, the team lost 0-2 against Serbia and thereby missed the promotion to the league A. Nemanja Maksimovic in the 56th minute. This was further reinforced by an owner of Gernot Trauner, who was put off the square with a red card in the 68th minute. In added time, Dusan Vlahovic, after two years of abstinence, scored his first international goal.

Team boss Ralf Rangnick initially put David Alaba and Marko Arnautovic on the bench, while captain Konrad Laimer achieved an offside goal in the 6th minute. Despite a dominant style of play, the Austrians could not take their chances. After Serbia played defensively and the control over the game, Austria was unable to overcome the opposing defense.

outlook on the World Cup qualification

In the context of the Nations League, the 2026 World Cup qualification is now imminent. Austria was no longer represented at a World Cup finals until the end, most recently in 1998. The team has the goal of returning to the World Cup after over 25 years after it failed in the last six qualification rounds. Austria was drawn from pot 1 for the qualification for the 2026 World Cup and plays in a challenging group H against Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus and San Marino. For Rangnick and his team, it is important to appear as a favorite in the group phase to secure the group victory.

The first games of the qualification begin on June 7, 2025 with a home game against Romania, followed by an away game against San Marino on June 10, 2025. The other dates are scheduled in September and October before the qualification on November 18, 2025 ends with a home game against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Austria has not yet been able to collect points in the previous qualification because it was free of play at the beginning of the year.

fans and players hope for positive turn

While the last games in the Nations League have to be seen as a disappointment, there are bright spots on the return of important players. David Alaba could return after a cruciate ligament tear in 2025, which would strengthen the squad. Before the upcoming challenges, Austria will try to continue the positive development under Rangnick after the eM 2024 had reached the round of 16. Despite the current difficulties, there is hope for a successful return to the World Cup.

Overall, Austria has had to painfully determine with the defeat against Serbia that improvements are urgently necessary to achieve the high goals in the World Cup qualification. The next kick -off will take place in June and will be crucial for the sporting future of the team.

For detailed information about the games and qualifications, see Vol.at , Fussball-wm.Pro as well href = "https://www.laola1.at/de/fussball/wm-2026/das/das-ss-oesterreichs-termine-in-der-qualifiken-fuer-wm-2026/"> laola1.at .