TheAustria national football team (German:Österreichische Fußballnationalmannschaft) representsAustria in men's internationalfootball competitions, and is controlled by theAustrian Football Association.
The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) was founded on 18 March 1904, in theAustro-Hungarian Empire. During the 1930s, under coachHugo Meisl, Austria's national team, known as the "Wunderteam" (literally "Miracle Team"), became a dominant force in European football. Notable achievements included a fourth-place finish in the1934 FIFA World Cup and silver medal at the1936 Olympic Games. TheAnschluss in 1938, which annexed Austria intoNazi Germany, led to the dissolution of the ÖFB and the obligatory integration of Austrian players into theGerman national team for the1938 World Cup.
After World War II, Austria reestablished its national team and achieved significant success in the1954 World Cup, finishing third. The team continued to be competitive throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including a notable victory overEngland atWembley Stadium in 1965. However, the following decades saw fluctuating fortunes, with the team failing to qualify forFIFA World Cups in the 1960s and narrowly missing out on the1974 World Cup in a playoff against Sweden. The 1970s and 1980s marked a revival, with Austria reaching the second round in the 1978 and 1982 World Cups, highlighted by a famous victory overWest Germany in 1978.
The 1990s and 2000s brought challenges and disappointments, such as a defeat to the Faroe Islands inUEFA Euro 1992 qualifying, and a group-stage exit in the1998 World Cup, their seventh and until then, last World Cup appearance. Austria automatically qualified forUEFA Euro 2008 as co-hosts withSwitzerland, the first time they played in theUEFA European Championship, but was eliminated in the group stage. The country entered a resurgence in 2016, beginning with a successful qualification campaigns for theUEFA Euro 2016,Euro 2020,Euro 2024; and after 28 years of absence in the tournament, the2026 FIFA World Cup, with current head coachRalf Rangnick.
A moment of the Austria v Peru match at the 1936 Olympics.
The team then qualified for the1938 World Cup finals, but Austria was annexed to Germany in theAnschluss on 12 March of that year. On 28 March,FIFA was notified that the ÖFB had been abolished, resulting in the nation's withdrawal from the World Cup.[6]
During the1982 World Cup in Spain, Austria and West Germany met again, in the last match of the group stage. Because the other two teams in the group had played their last match the previous day, both teams knew that a West German win by one goal would see both through, while all other results would eliminate one team or the other. After ten minutes of furious attack,Horst Hrubesch scored for West Germany, and the two teams mainly kicked the ball around for 80 minutes with few attempts to attack. The match became known as the "non-aggression pact of Gijón".Algeria had also won two matches, including a shocking surprise over West Germany in the opener, but among the three teams that had won two matches, was eliminated based on goal difference, having conceded two late goals in their 3–2 win overChile. This match caused outrage between supporters of multiple national teams; as a result, all future tournaments would see the last group matches played simultaneously. Austria andNorthern Ireland were eliminated by losing toFrance in the second round group stage of three teams.[7]
Austria national team before a match against Spain, November 2009.
Austria qualified automatically forEuro 2008 as co-hosts. Their first major tournament in a decade, most commentators regarded them as outsiders for Germany,Croatia andPoland in the group stage. Many of their home supporters were in agreement and 10,000 Austrians signed a petition demanding Austria withdraw from the tournament to spare the nation's embarrassment.[8] However, Austria managed a 1–1 draw with Poland and lost 1–0 to both Croatia and Germany.
Austria vs. Germany in 2014 World Cup qualification, 11 September 2012.After Austria co-hosted the2008 European Championship withSwitzerland and automatically qualified,Marcel Koller's team managed to qualify for the2016 European Championship on their own for the first time. This celebration photo was taken on 12 October 2015 after a victory againstLiechtenstein.
Despite their successful performance inEuro 2016 qualifying campaign, thetournament itself turned out to be a nightmare for the Austrians. Placed ingroup F withHungary,Portugal andIceland, Austria opened their campaign with a 0–2 loss to neighbour Hungary, in which defenderAleksandar Dragović was sent off.[9] This was followed up by a goalless draw with Portugal, in whichCristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty.[10] Nonetheless, Austria ended up losing 1–2 to debutant Iceland and were eliminated with just a point.[11]
2020s: Tournament breakthroughs and continued growth
AtUEFA Euro 2020 (held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Austria advanced to the knockout stage of the European Championship for the first time in their history. They finished second in Group C after defeatingNorth Macedonia andUkraine, and narrowly lost toItaly 2–1 after extra time in the Round of 16.[12][13]
Austria also qualified forUEFA Euro 2024 in Germany. As of June 2024, the team was drawn into Group D alongsideFrance, theNetherlands, andPoland. Austria finished first in their group, topping France and the Netherlands, which was considered a historic achievement.[14] However, they were eliminated in the Round of 16 after a 2–1 loss toTurkey.[15]
Although the match-up between Austria and Hungary is the second most-played international match in football (onlyArgentina and Uruguay, another two neighboring countries, have met each other in more matches), Germany has been Austria's arch-rival since the Second World War.[16]
The national team's home kit has traditionally been a white shirt, black shorts, and white socks. The colours are derived from the Teutonic Order. Their traditional away kit is the flag color: red shirt, white shorts, and red socks.[17] In 2004,Hans Krankl, Austria’s coach and legendary former striker, made the decision to switch the kits around so that red was first choice. This was so that the kit would match the Austrian flag (red-white-red) and also distinguish them from their neighbours. The away shirt colour has changed several times since then. The rotation starts with an all-white uniform, then black uniforms with light blue shorts and socks, and then all black.[18][19]
PRE Player was named to the preliminary squad / standby COV Player withdrew from the squad due toCOVID-19 INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue RET Retired from international football SUS Suspended in official matches
^After 1988, the tournament was restricted to squads with no more than three players over the age of 23, and these matches are not regarded as part of the national team's records, nor are caps awarded.
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