Austria's World Cup dreams without Florucz: What for the national team?

Austria's World Cup dreams without Florucz: What for the national team?

The official squad of the Austrian national soccer team for the upcoming World Cup qualification games has experienced an important change. Raul Florucz is not available due to muscular problems, as Krone reports. The 23-year-old striker of Olimpija Ljubljana remains with the team until the ÖFB team departed to San Marino next Monday, but will not be able to play. Team boss Ralf Rangnick has decided to do without nomination.

The Austrian selection is currently preparing in Seefeld and from Friday in Vienna for the home game against Romania in the sold-out Ernst Happel Stadium on Saturday. This game is extremely important because Austria's goal is the return to the World Cup after over 25 years. The ÖFB team failed in the qualification rounds six times in a row, and now it is important to achieve the group victory in Group H, which also includes Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus and San Marino.

top performers and challenges

Florucz is listed in the current squad for the World Cup qualification, and its absence is considered a significant loss. In the 2024/25 season, the offensive player scored 18 goals and 13 assists in 42 games for his club team. The 1. FC Heidenheim has already shown interest in Florucz in winter, and interest continues to exist after the club has relegated. It remains unclear whether Heidenheim is willing to pay a high transfer amount, since Florucz has a contract until 2028 and its market value is two million euros, such as LAOLA1 notes.

The Austrian national team will play in the first game against Romania, which takes place on June 7, 2025. In addition, another game against San Marino will follow on June 10th. In the other games you have to compete against Cyprus and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ralf Rangnick, who shows a positive development in the team as team boss, also pointed out that David Alaba, who recently recovered from a cruciate ligament rupture, could possibly return in 2025.

goals for the World Cup qualification

Austria still has the goal of qualifying directly for the 2026 World Cup. In the group's current table, they are still there without points, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania have already collected a few points. Other top performers include Marko Arnautović, Konrad Laimer and Marcel Sabitzer. Austria is viewed as a favorite in this qualification round and must master the challenge of returning to a World Cup after they were last represented in 1998, such as Fussball-WM.

The upcoming games are crucial, and the fans hope that the team can achieve the necessary results with a strong squad, even without Florucz, to achieve the big goal.