Austria national football team

Austria national football team is the national football team of Austria. It is controlled by the Austrian Football Association (German: Österreichischer Fußballbund - ÖFB).

History before the Second World War
The first official match took place on 12th October 1902 in Vienna when a team from Cisleithanien (Austrian part of the Austrian-Hungary Empire) played versus Hungary. (5:0) The team reached in the 1930s the best time. It was the time of the so-called "Wunderteam" (miracle team) when Austria was one of the leading teams in Europe. The Wunderteam was the first from the continent to defeat Scotland. In 1934 the team was took part in the FIFA world cup for the first time and reached the 4th place. 1936 Austria won the silver medal at the Olympic games in Berlin. Due to the occupation through Germany in 1938 there was no team between 1938 and 1945. The national team was dissolved and the players like Matthias Sindelar became part of the German team.

1945 to 1962
Soon after the end of the war the Austrian team played their first matches versus Hungary in Budapest. On December 6th, 1945 the first homematch took place in the renovated Praterstadion (now Ernst-Happel-Stadion). France was beaten by 4:1. Soon Austria was as successful as before the war. In 1951 Scotland was beaten in his own stadium by 1:0. Austria was the first team from the continent to do so. The FIFA World cup 1954 was the most successful ever. A legendary match was the quarterfinal against Switzerland which won Austria 7:5. It is still till  today the Worldcup match with the most goals scored. Austria reached the semifinals and was beaten by the later world champion Germany by 1:6. The match for the 3rd place was won by 3:1 versus Uruguay. Players like Gerhard Hanappi, Walter Zeman and Ernst Ocwirk were playing in the FIFA world team. A 0:6 versus the Czech team marked the end of Austrias golden periode.

1962 to present
The next years Austria was an average team but surprised through notable wins. On was on 20 October 1965 when Austria won in England 3:2. Austria was the third team to do so. In the same year however Austria failed to qualify for the 1966 World Cup. Also  the qualification for 1970 was a failure. The qualification for 1974 was missed after a 1:2 versus Sweden in a decider.

After 20 years Austria could qualify for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The last match versus Turkey was won 1:0 through a goal by the later team coach Herbert Prohaska. In the tournament Austria won the groupstage. But after two lost matches versus Netherlands and Italy they failed to reach the final round. The last match was versus Germany in Cordoba. Austria won 3:2 through two goals by Hans Krankl and an own goal by Bertie Vogts. In Austria this is a legendary match. In the 1982 World Cup Austria also played. After two matches with wins versus Algeria and Chile a narrow loss against Germany was enough. Germany had to win  to promote to the final round. The match ended 1:0 for Germany and especially in Algeria there were manipulation reproaches. After the 1982 Cup a lot of players ended their career, so Austria failed to reach the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Under coach Josef Hickersberger Austria could qualify for the 1990 World Cup. He called back old players like Herbert Prohaska and mixed them with new players like Andreas Herzog who had only three league matches played before the Championship. After losses versus Italy and  Czechoslovakia and a win versus USA they failed in the first round.

Shortly after the World Cup Hickersberger resigned after a 0:1 versus the Faroe Islands in Landskrona, Sweden. On the islands there was no stadium with grass and all the players were pure amateurs. This match was a great disgrace for Austrians team.

The last appearance of an Austrian team in a World Cup tournament was 1998 in France. Austria failed in the qualifing round versus Italy, Chile and Cameroon. As host Austria was qualified for the UEFA Euro 2008 and played versus Poland, Croatia and Germany. After losses versus Germany and Croatia and a draw versus Poland Austria could not qualify for the quarter finals.

Austria failed to qualify for the World Cup 2006 and 2010 and also for the UEFA Euro 2012.

Notable team players
Andreas Herzog:with 103 matches he holds the record of matches for the national team
Robert Sara:was voted to the All-Star-Team of the FIFA World Cup 1978
Walter Zeman:World goal keeper 1953
Herbert Prohaska:played in the 1990 and 1982 team  and was coach of the 1998 squad for the World Cups
Hans Krankl: he was the star of the 1978 match versus Germany and Europs best scorer
Matthias Sindelar: player of the "Wunderteam" one of Austrias best players ever
Toni Polster:with 44 goals best scorer of the Austrian team

Statistics
as 28 December 2021

Team matches
807
Won:338
Drawn:172  	
Lost:297 
Goals1428 : 1257  +171
The highest victory was a 9:0 versus Malta in a qualifing match for the FIFA World Cup 1978.
Top scorer in single match:Hans Krankl 6 versus Malta
The highest defeat was a 1:11 versus England on 8th June 1908 in Vienna.
Most matches:versus Hungary 136
Best result in Fifa World Cup:1954 3rd 
Visitors: 30.10.1960 Austria - Spain 3:0 	 91000

Matches
Andreas Herzog 	 103 
Aleksandar Dragovic 98
Marko Arnautovic 96
  	Anton Polster 	 95 
 	Gerhard Hanappi 	 93 
David Alaba 91
  	Karl Koller 	 86 
Julian Baumgartlinger 84
  	Friedrich 'Friedl' Koncilia 	 84 
  	Bruno Pezzey 	 84 
  	Herbert Prohaska 	 83 
Christian Fuchs 78
Sebastian Prödl 73
Marc Janko 70
  	Johann Krankl 	 69 
  	Heribert Weber 	 68 
Martin Harnik 68
Martin Hinteregger 65
  	Peter Stöger 	 65

Top scorer
  	Anton Polster 	 44 
  	Johann Krankl 	 34 
  	Johann Horvath 	 29 
  	Erich Hof 	 28 
  	Anton Schall 	 27 
  	Matthias Sindelar 	 26 
  	Andreas Herzog 	 26 
  	Karl Zischek 	 24 
  	Walter Schachner 	 23 
  	Theodor Wagner 	 22

Manager history

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Austrian teammatches (1902 bis present-German) 
 Current team players 
List of Austrian national team players (German Wikipedia)

European national football teams
Football in Austria
1902 establishments in Europe
20th century establishments in Austria