The is the
Association Football team that represents the
Country of
Austria in international competition and is controlled by the
Austrian Football Association (German: Österreichischer Fußball Bund).
Austria has qualified for seven
World Cups , most recently in
1998 . The country has not yet qualified for a
European Championship ; it will play in the tournament for the first time in
2008 when it co-hosts the event with
Switzerland .
The
Austrian Football Association was founded on 18 March 1904 in the Empire of
Austria-Hungary . The team enjoyed success in the 1930s under coach
Hugo Meisl becoming a dominant side in Europe and earning the nickname "Wunderteam". On 16 May 1931, they were the first European side to defeat
Scotland .
In the
1934 FIFA World Cup , they finished 4th after losing 0-1 to
Italy in the semifinals, and 3-2 to
Germany for Third place. They were runners-up in the
Football At The Summer Olympics 1936, again losing to Italy, 2-1. (They had actually lost in the quarterfinals to Peru, but were re-instated after Peru withdrew after a re-match was ordered.)
Austria had qualified for the
1938 finals, but as Austria was annexed to Germany in spring of that year in the
Anschluss , they withdrew and did not play any matches. For political reasons, some players from
Rapid Wien had to be merged into the
German Team . Theoretically, a united team could have been a strong force, but Coach
Sepp Herberger had little time and very few games to prepare, and the united German-Austrian team failed in the tournament. The elimination in Round 1 after two games against
Switzerland remains Germany's worst World Cup result.
After World War II, Austria was again separated from Germany. Austria's best result came in
1954 , when they finished third after losing the semifinal to eventual champion Germany. It was their best result ever, and unfortunately the last time for decades that Austria reached the end round of a major tournament.
Over the years, a strong yet mainly lopsided rivalry with Germany developed.
Anchored by legendary striker
Hans Krankl and backed up by co-star
Bruno Pezzey , Austria reached the World Cup in 1978 and 1982 and both times reached the Second Round, held in team group games that replaced the knock-out Quarter Finals. This Austria team is widely regarded as the best post-WWII Austrian football team ever.
In the ).
During the ", ''the non-aggression pact of Gijon''.
Algeria had also won two games, including a shocking surprise over Germany in the opener, but was eliminated by the 0-1 result based on goal difference. As a result, FIFA stages all final group games in parallel times slots ever since.
Austria was eliminated by losing to France in the Second round group stage of three teams.
Led by striker
Toni Polster , Austria qualified for the 1990 World Cup, but were eliminated in the first round.
Much worse was the stunning 0:1 loss against the
Faroe Islands in the qualifying campaign for the European Championship 1992, considered the worst embarrassment in any Austrian team sport ever, and one of the biggest upsets in footballing history. The game was played in Landskrona, Sweden because there were no grass fields on the Islands.
It was a sign for things to come: Austria suffered another couple of years of botched qualifying campaigns.
In the World Cup 1998, Austria were drawn in Group B along with
Italy ,
Cameroon and
Chile . Their appearance was brief but eventful, as they managed the curious feat of only scoring in stoppage time in each of their matches. Against Cameroon,
Pierre Njanka 's superb goal was cancelled out by
Toni Polster 's late strike. In their second game, it was
Ivica Vastic who curled a last minute equalizer, cancelling out
Marcelo Salas 's disputed opener. Austria weren't so fortunate in their crucial, final match at the
Stade De France . Italy scored twice after half-time; a header from
Christian Vieri and a tap-in from
Roberto Baggio .
Andreas Herzog 's stoppage time penalty kept up Austria's unusual scoring pattern, but was not enough to prevent Austria finishing third in the group, behind the Italians and Chileans.
In the recent years, Austria's play has declined. They failed to qualify for the next World Cups and European Championships, and suffered extreme embarrassment (similar to the Faroe Islands loss) when they lost 0:9 against in
1999 . In 2006 Josef Hickersberger became coach of the Austrian national team which was not able to win against Canada 0:2, Croatia 1:4, Hungary 1:2, Costa Rica 2:2 and Venezuela 0:1. The last three matches in 2006 against Liechtenstein 2:1; a notable match against Switzerland 2:1 and Trinidad & Tobago 4:1 stopped the series of bad games and results.
In 2007 Austria played against Malta (1:1), Ghana (1:1), France (0:1), Scotland (0:1), Paraguay (0:0), Czech Republic (1:1) and Japan (0:0; 4:3 after penalty shooting). They will still play against Chile (11.9.); Switzerland (13.10.); Ivory Coast (17.10.) and some other unknown national teams.
In 2008 there will be matches against Germany (6.2.2008) and the Netherlands (26.3.2008).
As a co-host for the 2008 European Cup, Austria will have its chance to redeem its name once again before and during the European Cup.
- 1930 - ''Did not enter''
- 1934 - Fourth place
- 1938 - ''Qualified, but withdrew after Anschluss to Germany, to play in a united German team''
- 1950 - ''Withdrew''
- 1954 - Third place
- 1958 - Round 1
- 1962 - ''Withdrew''
- 1966 to 1974 - ''Did not qualify''
- 1978 - Second group stage
- 1982 - Second group stage
- 1986 - ''Did not qualify''
- 1990 - Round 1
- 1994 - ''Did not qualify''
- 1998 - Round 1
- 2002 to 2006 - ''Did not qualify''
- 1960 to 2004 - ''Did not qualify''
- 2008 - Qualified automatically as co-host
