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
Marko Arnautovic:with 45 goals best scorer of the Austrian team

Team of the century
To mark the turn of the century, the Kronen Zeitung called for an election for the national team of the (20th) century in 1999. 
 Walter Zeman Robert Sara – Ernst Happel – Bruno Pezzey Gerhard Hanappi – Herbert Prohaska – Ernst Ocwirk – Andreas Herzog Hans Krankl – Matthias Sindelar – Toni Polster

Statistics
as 16 October 2023Football in Austria (German)
Team matches
825
Won:346
Drawn:176  	
Lost:303
Goals1456: 1279 +177
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 	 91000austriasoccer.at

Matches
Marko Arnautovic 108
Andreas Herzog 	 103 
 	David Alaba 101
Aleksandar Dragovic 100
  	Anton Polster 	 95 
Gerhard Hanappi 	 93 
  	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 67
  	Peter Stöger 	 65Fußball in Österreich (German)

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
NameNationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin%Win% is rounded to two decimal placesNotes Hugo Meisl22 December 19123 October 1914 6  3  1  2  11  9  50.00 Heinrich Retschury4 October 19141 August 1919 22  8   3  11  45  47   Hugo Meisl 1 August 191917 February 1937 127  68  29  30  326  206   Created the Wunderteam.4th place at the 1934 World Cup.Winners of the 1932 Central European International Cup. Runners-up of the 1930 and 1935 Central European International Cup. Heinrich Retschury22 May 193724 October 1937 5  2  1  2  10  10  40.00 Qualified for the 1938 World Cup. From 1938 to 1945 there was no national team due to Anschluss. Karl Zankl19 August 19453 October 1945 2  0  0  2  2  7  0.00 Died while in the position of national coach. Edi Bauer3 October 19454 March 1948 11  4  0  7  26  28   Eduard Frühwirth4 March 19481 September 1948 5  3  0  2  9  9  60.00 Walter Nausch1 September 194815 November 1954 47  21  10  16  119  87   3rd place at the 1954 World Cup. Hans Kaulich15 November 195428 March 1955 1  0  0  1  2  3  0.00 Josef Molzer29 March 19553 September 1955 3  1  1  1  6  8   Karl Geyer3 September 195521 April 1956 5  2  0  3  8 14  40.00 Josef ArgauerJosef Molzer21 April 19569 August 1958 18  7  6  5  37  27   Qualified for the 1958 World Cup. Alfred FreyFranz PutzendoplerEgon SelzerJosef Molzer9 August 195815 October 1958 2  0  0  2  4  6  0.00 Karl Decker16 October 195828 February 1964 36  16  3  17  60  67   Josef WalterBéla Guttmann7 March 196411 October 1964 5  3  1  1  6  5  60.00 Eduard Frühwirth20 November 196413 January 1967 15  4  3  8  12  23   Erwin AlgeHans Pesser13 January 196724 June 1968 10  3  2  5  18  19  30.00 Leopold Šťastný1 July 196830 September 1975 49  15  16  18  58  62   Branko Elsner(caretaker)6 October 197519 November 1975 2  1  0  1  6  3  50.00 Helmut Senekowitsch1 March 197630 June 1978 26  14  4  8  40  26   Qualified for the 1978 World Cup. Karl Stotz1 August 197814 December 1981 24  13  6  5  43  25   Qualified for the 1982 World Cup. Georg SchmidtFelix Latzke5 February 19822 July 1982 8  5  1  2  11  7   Erich Hof7 September 198221 November 1984 15  6  3  6   22  20   Branko Elsner15 January 198518 November 1987 18  5  5  8  20  28   Josef Hickersberger1 January 198814 September 1990 29  10  7  12  36  39   Qualified for the 1990 World Cup. Alfred Riedl15 September 199010 October 1991 8  1  3  4  6  16   Dietmar Constantini(caretaker)10 October 199113 November 1991 2  0  0  2  1  4  0.00 Ernst Happel1 Januar 199214 November 1992 9  2  3  4  18  17   Dietmar Constantini (caretaker)15 November 199218 November 1992 1  0  1  0  0  0   Herbert Prohaska8 January 199329 March 1999 51  25  9  17  96  73   Qualified for the 1998 World Cup. Otto Barić13 April 199921 November 2001 22  7  6  9  31  35   Hans Krankl21 January 200228 September 2005 31  10  10  11  47  46   Willibald RuttensteinerAndreas HerzogSlavko Kovacic(caretakers)30 September 2005December 2005 2  1  0  1  2  1  50.00 Josef Hickersberger1 January 200623 June 2008 24  5  8  11  29  40   Karel Brückner25 July 20082 March 2009 6  1  2  3  9  13   Dietmar Constantini 4 March 20091 November 2009 20 7  2  11  ?  ?  Marcel Koller 1 November 20099 October 2017 54 25  13 16  ?  ?  Qualified for the Euro 2016. Franco Foda 14 November 201730 March 2022 46 27  5 14  ?  ? Qualified for the Euro 2020. Ralf Rangnick 29 April 20228 3  1 4 ?? 

Gallery

References

Other websites

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

Category:European national football teams
Category:Football in Austria
Category:1902 establishments in Austria
Category:National sports teams of Austria