Austria will go into this European Championship as one of the dark horses, believe it or not.
While history may not be kind to them, they will be looking to rewrite it after their impressive rise over the past two years under the leadership of Ralf Rangnick.
Before his arrival in April 2022, Austria was known for being boring and its fans had fallen in love with their own national team.
A powerful, energetic style has woken up the football minnows and a new generation of supporters have something to look forward to for the first time in decades.
Das Team raised eyebrows and sent shockwaves across Europe last November when they comfortably defeated Germany 2-0 in a friendly match. It could be a sight we might get used to this summer and beyond.
Mail Sport takes you through Austria in Group D, including the team that qualified for the tournament, their history in the competition and who to watch out for.
Austria will enter the European Championships this summer as one of the dark horses
Ralf Rangnick’s men will be looking to rewrite history after their impressive rise over the past two years
Who is the administrator?
Ralf Rangnick
Austria is led by none other than former Manchester United interim manager Rangnick.
Although his short spell at Old Trafford was unsuccessful, the opposite can be said of his team in charge of Austria.
Under his leadership, Das Team has won twelve matches, drawn three and lost five.
The 65-year-old’s shares have risen and he recently turned down an offer to become Bayern Munich’s new manager.
Austria has won twelve, drawn three and lost five of twenty matches under Rangnick’s leadership
Who is the star man?
Marcel Sabitzer
The most notable name in the Austrian camp is Captain David Alaba. However, he will not be involved as he continues to recover from an ACL injury he suffered while playing for Real Madrid last December.
‘It is of course a great shame that he is not available to us as a player. I have had intensive contact with David in recent weeks. He emphasized that he really wanted to still be with us,” Rangnick said.
“Therefore, I am very happy to say that this will be possible after a good discussion with his club Real Madrid.”
Marcel Sabitzer remains one of Austria’s most decorated players and will enter the tournament following an impressive season in which he played a crucial role in Borussia Dortmund’s run to the Champions League final.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan striker Marko Aurnatovic is Austria’s second highest scorer of all time and will be keen to add to his 36 goals for the country.
Captain David Alaba will miss the European Championships as he recovers from a cruciate ligament injury
Marcel Sabitzer remains one of Austria’s most decorated players and will be full of confidence
How did they qualify?
Austria were a force in Group B of the qualifiers. They came second, ahead of Sweden, Azerbaijan and Estonia, and just one point behind table toppers Belgium.
Rangnick’s men took no fewer than 19 points from a possible 24, scoring 17 goals and conceding only seven.
Sabitzer was the star man for Austria in the qualifiers with four goals and two assists in seven appearances. But he wasn’t the only player who shone.
RB Leipzig striker Christoph Baumgartner scored three goals, while SC Freiburg winger Michael Gregoritsch also scored three times.
The experienced Arnautovic was only involved in four of the eight matches, but managed to score twice.
Sabitzer was the star man for Austria in the qualifiers with four goals and two assists
Match schedule (all UK times)
It is a difficult group that Austria has been placed in and they would do well to get out of it. But rule them out at your own risk.
They open their campaign against tournament favorites France on June 17, before taking on Poland on June 21 and the Netherlands four days later.
Austria vs France – Monday June 17, 8:00 PM in the Düsseldorf Arena
Austria vs Poland – Friday June 21, 5:00 PM in Olympiastadion, Berlin
Austria vs Netherlands – Tuesday, June 25, 5:00 PM in Olympiastadion, Berlin
Austria will play against one of the tournament favorites France in their opening match
Tournament history
This year’s European Championships will be Austria’s fourth, having been involved in 2008 (as co-host), 2016 and 2020. Their best performance came at the 2020 European Championships, when they reached the round of 16.
Chance to win the trophy
Austria have odds of 66/1 to lift the trophy Sky bet. The odds are correct at the time of publication.
Provisional team
Goalkeepers: Niklas Hedl (Rapid Vienna), Tobias Lawal (Linz), Heinz Lindner (Union Saint-Gilloise), Patrick Pentz (Brondby)
Defenders: Flavius Daniliuc (RB Salzburg), Kevin Danso (Lens), Stefan Lainer (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Philipp Lienhart (Freiburg), Phillipp Mwene (Mainz), Stefan Posch (Bologne), Leopold Querfeld (Rapid Vienna), Gernot Trauner ( Feyenoord) , Maximilian Wober (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Midfielders: Thierno Ballo (Wolfsberg), Christoph Baumgartner (RB Leipzig), Florian Grillitsch (Hoffenheim), Marco Grull (Rapid Vienna), Florian Kainz (Cologne), Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich), Alexander Prass (Sturm Graz), Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia) Dortmund), Romano Schmid (Werder Bremen), Matthias Seidl (Rapid Vienna), Nicolas Seiwald (RB Leipzig), Patrick Wimmer (Wolfsburg)
Forward: Marko Arnautovic (Inter Milan), Maximilian Entrup (Hartberg), Michael Gregoritsch (Freiburg), Andreas Weimann (West Bromwich Albion)