Austria's national team: Ralf Rangnick presents the first World Cup qualifier!
Austria's national team: Ralf Rangnick presents the first World Cup qualifier!
Wien, Österreich - The starting signal for the 2026 World Cup qualification has been given. On June 7, 2025, the Austrian national team welcomes Romania in Vienna in Vienna. This is considered a key game, since Austria has not participated in a World Cup since 1998 and now wants to realize his dream of returning under team boss Ralf Rangnick. The qualification games are the first step in this way, which is why the focus is on strong performance. The next match will take place on June 10th against San Marino, with the aim of mastering the qualifying group H and securing one of the first two places.
Austria is located in the qualifying group H, which includes Romanian, Bosnian and Cypriot competition and San Marino. The ÖFB is considered a clear favorite, even if the opponents, especially Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina, can be quite uncomfortable. Austria was pulled out of pot 1 and wants to strive for group victory to qualify directly for the World Cup. Otherwise, the group of group in playoffs would have to fight for the remaining starting positions.
squad and preparation
In the past few days, Ralf Rangnick has announced his first squad for the World Cup qualification. This includes the following players:
| position | player |
|---|---|
| gate | Nicolas Schmid, Nikolas Upholster, Patrick Pentz |
| defense | Marco Friedl, Philipp Lienhart, Phillipp Mwene, Stefan Posch, Leopold Querfeld, Gernot Trauner, Nikolas Veratschnig, Maximilian Wöber |
| midfield | Florian Grillitsch, Konrad Laimer, Marcel Sabitzer, Xaver Schlager, Romano Schmid, Nicolas Seiwald |
| attack | Marko Arnautovic, Thierno Ballo, Christoph Baumgartner, Raul Florucz, Michael Gregoritsch, Marco Grüll, Mathias Honsak, Patrick Wimmer |
It should be noted that three of the four goalkeepers, Nicolas Schmid, Nikolas Upholster and Tobias Lawal, did not yet have an A-Team insert. In addition to Alexander Schlager, who fails due to injury, David Alaba and some other players such as Sasa Kalajdzic and Michael Svoboda are also missing. There are numerous potential additions that could help at short notice.
history and goals
The past 25 years have been shaped by failures for the Austrian national team in the World Cup qualification rounds. The ÖFB team failed six times in a row. Now the team has the chance to stop the trend and qualify for a World Cup finals again. Austria's last appearance at a World Cup took place in 1998, and expectations can be felt in the football community. Rangnick, who has already given positive impulses as a team boss, will head against Cyprus and Bosnia-Herzegovina on September 6, 2025 and 9, 2025, before the second legs in October and November. The way to qualify requires primarily stability and the development of the individual and collective potential of the team.
Preparations for the decisive games begin on May 30th in Seefeld. After a successful Nation League phase that brought a victory against Norway and a draw against Slovenia, players and coaches are optimistic about the direct opportunity of a world championship. In the long run, the team hopes for David Alaba's comeback, who could return to the European Championship after his injury in 2024
OE24.at reports about the squad and the preparation, while Today. Further details on the group draw and the history of the ÖFB team can be viewed at Fussball-wm.Pro
| Details | |
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| Ort | Wien, Österreich |
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