Austria national football team

The Austria national football team is the team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association (German: Österreichischer Fußballbund). Austria has qualified for six FIFA World Cups with their best performance being runner-up at the 1906 edition in France.

Pre World War II
The Austrian national team first international match was against fellow empire members in 1902, two years before the formation of the Austrian Football Federation (OFB), the first few years they had friendlies against Hungary which was interrupted by three FIFA World Cups which was held during that time. In 1906, they sent a team to France where the team made it to the final before losing to. After the Uruguayans went into civil war, they were awarded hosting rights for the following cup in 1910. After receiving a first-round bye, they defeated Ireland 2-1 in the quarter-finals to make their second semi-final where they would go down to 3-2 with the Belgian winner coming in the 88th minute of play. Two tournaments of no success followed with a second-round exit at the 1912 Summer Olympics before being eliminated in the group stage of the 1914 FIFA World Cup in a group which featured, and the.

After they didn't compete in the 1922 FIFA World Cup in the Netherlands and the 1924 Olympics, they competed in the qualifying phase for the 1926 FIFA World Cup which was held in Spain. They were placed in a group which featured Hungary, Germany and with the national team ending on top of the group to qualify through to the World Cup. From there they were put in Group C of the competition with, debutants and. After finishing on top of the group with wins over Finland and Italy, the team took on Belgium in the quarter-finals and with goals from, and , the team qualify for the semi-finals where they ended with a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands before losing to  in the third-place playoff.

The following two World Cups in 1930 and 1934 FIFA World Cup came with the national team not qualifying through as the automatic spot in both occasions going to Germany with the 1934 edition seeing the national team lose to Switzerland in a playoff to take on in the first round of the playoffs. In what was the final tournament before World War II, the national team competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany. After defeating 2-0 in the opening round, they would lose to  in the quarter-finals with two goals from  and  sercuring the win for Peru despite the protests of the Austrians. They would finish second in qualifying for the 1938 FIFA World Cup.

After World War II
After being eliminated in the first round at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London to, they qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup after finishing top of their qualifying group which featured and. Austria was put in Group C with, Netherlands, Norway and Uruguay. After collecting a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in their opening game, they would lose to Uruguay in their second game despite a late goal from Austrian player,. A 5-0 win over Jamaica which featured a hat-trick from gave them a chance to qualify with only a win against Norway needed to win. In what was a close affair, an 76th minute goal from would tie the match and knock out Austria out of the cup.

After another first round exit from the Olympics, this time against Finland. Austria would qualify for the following World Cup which was being held in Chile. The team was placed in Group B with, and Yugoslavia. A disapponting 0-0 draw against Paraguay in their opening match was followed by a 5-0 demolition of Portugal at Concepción with scoring a hat-trick in the victory. A 3-2 loss to Yugoslavia in their final match did dampen their hopes as they only scrape through to the quarters by goal difference over Paraguay who had only scored a single goal against Portugal on that same day. In the quarter-finals, scored the only goal in the 108th minute to give Austria a spot in the semi-finals where they were outplayed 2-0 by a much more fancier  outfit before going on to lose 3-0 in the third-place playoff to Yugoslavia.

Austria's success though would be short-term with first round defeats in qualifying for the 1956 and 1960 European Nations' Cup while also finishing second in their qualifying group for the 1958 FIFA World Cup to.

FIFA World Cup
Gold  Silver   Bronze