Having made three previous appearances at the UEFA European Championship in the years 2008, 2016, and 2020, Austria will be able to add a so far successful Euro 2024 to their tally, having already qualified for the knockout stages. Ralf Rangnick’s side may not have seemed likely contenders for such an accolade at the start of the tournament after a 1-0 defeat to France, but they managed miraculous comebacks against Poland (3-1) and the Netherlands (3-2). I think there would have been few neutrals that would have considered betting on Austria to go over the top of the Dutch in the table, but isn’t that the beauty of football?
A Look Back at Last Time Out
Austria’s history with the Euros has been somewhat chequered up till now: their best result was reaching the round of 16 in 2020 before making a swift exit against Italy. Both sides had their chances but were unable to reach the back of the net, the opening 90 minutes concluding in a goalless stalemate. Italy had the better of the first half’s possession, producing multiple opportunities, but Austria were resilient in defence. Italy needed something magical, and they found that in the form of an incredible strike from Federico Chiesa in the 95th minute. At that point, the floodgates opened, and the Austrian side were soon put to the sword by Matteo Pessina to increase Italy’s lead. Kalajdzic did manage a consolation goal near the close of the match, but at that point, it was too little too late for their chances of reaching the quarter-finals.
Austria This Year: A Deep Dive
Das Team have fought hard in this year’s competition to get to second place in group D. A lot of pundits had written off their chances when drawn against the likes of France and the Netherlands — especially considering that Austria had not won a game against the Netherlands since their 1984 World Cup qualifying match together.
Game one certainly seemed a bad omen for the Austrians who looked flummoxed in the face of à la mode Galactico Kylian Mbappe. The forward wasn’t even on top form with his finishing in the evening, but he still managed to get France in front with a cross in the 38th minute that (un)fortunately caught the head of Leeds United’s Max Wöber for an own goal. That was all that was needed to leave the Central Europeans with a fat nul points on the scoreboard at the end of 90 minutes.
If the first game was not quite the heady tale for which Austria were hoping, it was three cheers for Das Team by the end of the second. Gernot Trauner struck first blood after only nine minutes, giving fans a glimmer of hope early doors. Not to be outdone, however, Polish striker Krzysztof Piątek clawed one back in the 30th minute to make it even-steven on the scoreboard by half-time. The atmosphere was tense for the Austrians for the next 21 minutes before a dummy from Marko Arnautović created a gap for Christoph Baumgartner to slide in a shot from the edge of the area and get the fans roaring; and as if he hadn’t done enough already, Arnautović followed up with a goal of his own from a 78th minute penalty to send the Polish packing.
With one last group game to go before potential qualification, it was all hanging in the balance for Austria. As fate would have it, they got their turn for the luck of the own goal, clinching the lead after only six minutes from a mistake from Donyell Malen. The Netherlands were not to be bested that easily, though, and fired back just after the second half with Cody Gakpo curling in a screamer. A goal apiece followed from Romano Schmid (59′) and Memphis Depay (75′) before Marcel Sabitzer had the final say with a third goal for the Austrians to cap off a belter of a match.
Final Thoughts
Austria may have come into the tournament as underdogs, but whatever happens from now on, they are leaving it as top of group D. Can they go all the way? Only time will tell. Das Team have had a Euro’s start like none they have produced previously. They have given themselves a fighting chance at their first title if they can keep up the form they have displayed so far, but we will see what their next-round competition have to say for before we get carried away with the idea of lifting silverware.
