Austria national football team

History

Pre-World War II

The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) was founded on 18 March 1904 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Max Scheuer, a Jewish defender who played for the Austria national football team in 1923; Scheuer was subsequently killed during the Holocaust in Auschwitz concentration camp. The team enjoyed success in the 1930s under coach Hugo Meisl, becoming a dominant side in Europe and earning the nickname "Wunderteam". The team's star was Matthias Sindelar. On 16 May 1931, they were the first continental European side to defeat Scotland. In the 1934 FIFA World Cup, Austria finished fourth after losing 0–1 to Italy in the semi-finals and 2–3 to Germany in the third-place play-off.

The team then qualified for the 1938 World Cup finals, but Austria was annexed to Germany in the Anschluss 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.

After World War II

During the 1982 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 over Chile. 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 and Northern Ireland were eliminated by losing to France in the second round group stage of three teams.

21st century

2000s: Decline

Austria qualified automatically for Euro 2008 as co-hosts. Their first major tournament in a decade, most commentators regarded them as outsiders for Germany, Croatia and Poland 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. However, Austria managed a 1–1 draw with Poland and lost 1–0 to both Croatia and Germany.

2010s: Revival and setbacks

Despite their successful performance in Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, the tournament itself turned out to be a nightmare for the Austrians. Placed in group F with Hungary, Portugal and Iceland, Austria opened their campaign with a 0–2 loss to neighbour Hungary, in which defender Aleksandar Dragović was sent off. This was followed up by a goalless draw with Portugal, in which Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty. Nonetheless, Austria ended up losing 1–2 to debutant Iceland and were eliminated with just a point.

2020s: Tournament breakthroughs and continued growth

At UEFA 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 defeating North Macedonia and Ukraine, and narrowly lost to Italy 2–1 after extra time in the Round of 16.

Austria also qualified for UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany. As of June 2024, the team was drawn into Group D alongside France, the Netherlands, and Poland. Austria finished first in their group, topping France and the Netherlands, which was considered a historic achievement. However, they were eliminated in the Round of 16 after a 2–1 loss to Turkey.

Rivalry

Main article: Austria–Hungary football rivalry

Although the match-up between Austria and Hungary is the second most-played international match in football (only Argentina 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.

Kits and crest

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. 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.

Results and fixtures

Main article: Austria national football team results (2020–present)

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2025

• Gregoritsch
• Samardžić
• N. Maksimović
• Vlahović
• Gregoritsch
• Sabitzer
• Tănase
• Arnautović
• Gregoritsch
• Baumgartner
• Sabitzer
• Džeko
• Sabitzer
• Laimer
• Schmid
• Arnautović
• Gregoritsch
• Posch
• Laimer
• Wurmbrand
• Ghiță
• Gregoritsch
• Tabaković

2026

Coaching staff

:As of April 2024.

Manager history

| 6 || 3 || 1 || 2 || 11 || 9 || 50.00 | |- | Heinrich Retschury | 22 || 8 || 3 || 11 || 45 || 47 || | |- | Hugo Meisl | 127 || 68 || 29 || 30 || 326 || 206 ||

| |- | Eduard Frühwirth | 5 || 3 || 0 || 2 || 9 || 9 || 60.00 | |- | Walter Nausch | 47 || 21 || 10 || 16 || 119 || 87 ||

| |- | Josef Molzer | 3 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 6 || 8 || | |- | Karl Geyer | 5 || 2 || 0 || 3 || 8|| 14 || 40.00 | |- | Josef ArgauerJosef Molzer | 18 || 7 || 6 || 5 || 37 || 27 ||

| |- | Karl Decker | 36 || 16 || 3 || 17 || 60 || 67 || | |- | Josef WalterBéla Guttmann | 5 || 3 || 1 || 1 || 6 || 5 || 60.00 | |- | Eduard Frühwirth | 15 || 4 || 3 || 8 || 12 || 23 || | |- | Erwin AlgeHans Pesser | 10 || 3 || 2 || 5 || 18 || 19 ||
| |- | Leopold Šťastný | 49 || 15 || 16 || 18 || 58 || 62 || | |- | Branko Elsner | 2 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 6 || 3 || 50.00 | |- | Helmut Senekowitsch | 26 || 14 || 4 || 8 || 40 || 26 ||

| |- | Erich Hof | 15 || 6 || 3 || 6 || 22 || 20 || | |- | Branko Elsner | 18 || 5 || 5 || 8 || 20 || 28 || | |- | Josef Hickersberger | 29 || 10 || 7 || 12 || 36 || 39 ||

| |- | Dietmar Constantini | 2 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 4 || 0.00 | |- | Ernst Happel | 9 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 18 || 17 ||

| |- | Herbert Prohaska | 51 || 25 || 9 || 17 || 96 || 73 ||

2000–present

Players

Current squad

• The following 26 players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Cyprus and Bosnia and Herzegovina on 15 and 18 November 2025, respectively.
• Caps and goals as of 18 November 2025, after the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Austria squad in the last twelve months.

PRE Player was named to the preliminary squad / standby

COV Player withdrew from the squad due to COVID-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

Individual statistics

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Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Main article: Austria at the FIFA World Cup

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Tournament played fully or partially on home soil

UEFA European Championship

Main article: Austria at the UEFA European Championship

Champions Runners-up Third place/Semi-finalists Tournament played fully or partially on home soil

UEFA Nations League

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Tournament played fully or partially on home soil

Head-to-head record

Source: Note: This table is work-in-progress; it is far from complete.

Honours

Global

• FIFA World Cup
  • Third place (1): 1954
• Olympic Games
  • Silver medal (1): 1936

Regional

• Central European International Cup
  • Champions (1): 1931–32
  • Runners-up (2): 1927–30, 1933–35
  • Third place (2): 1948–53, 1955–60

Summary

Notes

References

References

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2. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Max Scheuer".
3. "Max Scheuer » Internationals".
4. "Nazis in der Abseitsfalle". [[Der Spiegel]].
5. Tong, Kobe. (25 June 2022). "It's been 40 years since one of the most disgraceful WC games ever - footage is remarkable".
6. Moore, Glenn. (16 August 2007). "Austria must pull out of Euro 2008, say 10,000 fans petition". [[The Independent]].
7. "Austria 0-2 Hungary: Dark horses stunned in Bordeaux".
8. Glendenning, Barry. (18 June 2016). "Portugal 0-0 Austria: Euro 2016, as it happened". The Guardian.
9. Fisher, Ben. (22 June 2016). "Iceland 2-1 Austria: Euro 2016, as it happened!". The Guardian.
10. UEFA.com. (2021-06-26). "EURO 2020 review: Austria {{!}} UEFA EURO 2020".
11. (2021-06-26). "Italy 2-1 Austria: Chiesa, Pessina send Azzurri through in".
12. "UEFA Euro 2024: Groups and standings". Reuters.
13. UEFA.com. "Austria vs Türki̇ye {{!}} UEFA EURO 2024".
14. (21 July 2022). "Franzobels Einwürfe: Vor Deutschland gegen Österreich: Nur net narrisch werden".
15. (19 June 2018). "Warum spielt Deutschland in schwarz-weißen Trikots?". Weser-Kurier.
16. (2016-10-01). "Coleman hoping Wales can wear red strip".
17. Smyth, Rob. (2004-09-04). "Austria 2 - 2 England". The Guardian.
18. "Die Trainer des Österreichischen Nationalteams". oefb.
19. (30 October 2017). "Austria appoint Franco Foda as new national team manager. Retrieved 2 November 2017. ''ESPN''.".
20. "Homepage ÖFB".
21. "Kader für WM-Quali-Finale steht". Austrian Football Association.
22. "Der Grosskader des ÖFB Nationalteams". Austrian Football Association.
23. Stokkermans, Karel. "Austria {{!}} Record International Players".
24. "Ewige Einsatzliste". Austrian Football Association.
25. "Ewige Torschützen". Austrian Football Association.
26. (5 July 2024). "Austria".
27. (5 July 2024). "Austria - Historical results".