EURO mess

A start that doesn’t bring back good memories

Patrick Wimmer can't believe it.(Bild: AFP, Krone Kreativ)

In 2016 and 2021, Austria slumped badly after the EURO and missed all their World Cup chances early on! 2024 is not yet an alarm level, but now the turnaround must come quickly ...  

Austria and its cross with the EURO - as in 2016 and 2021, the tournament has also left its mark on the ÖFB team this year. After the 1:1 in Slovenia and the 1:2 in Norway, Ralf Rangnick's charges have quickly fallen behind in Group B3 of the Nations League and have made a mess of the restart after the EURO. They now have four games until November 17 to turn things around this year.

Marcel Koller(Bild: GEPA)

Like Koller and Foda
A look back at the recent past shows that the current false start is anything but a novelty. See 2016: After a confident European Championship qualifying campaign, hopes were still high for Marcel Koller despite a disappointing EURO - the Swiss team manager was also supposed to show Aleksandar Dragovic and Co. the way to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The (feasible) group with Serbia, Ireland, Wales, Georgia and Moldova gave every reason for hope.three games, just one pointBut nothing came of it: after the stumbling start with the 2:1 in Georgia, the ÖFB team got off course in 2016, picked up just one point from the following three World Cup qualifying matches (see box) and never made up the deficit. "It's the little things that aren't working. We're not scoring goals up front and every mistake is punished at the back," complained then team manager Marcel Koller.

Franco Foda(Bild: GEPA)

It was a similar story for his successor Franco Foda: the narrow defeat to eventual European champions Italy in the last 16 of EURO 2020 (1:2 after extra time) raised expectations again ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. In vain: After four points from the first three games before the EURO and the 2:0 at Moldova at the beginning of September, things went rapidly downhill. Three defeats by the end of the year (see statistics) paved the way to ruin, and four months after the EURO exit, a 1-0 loss in Denmark put the World Cup in Qatar out of the running. "We have to apologize to the fans," said the players, showing understanding for the frustration in the country.

Ralf Rangnick(Bild: GEPA)

Course correction necessary
And 2024? If the belief in the team is still there, a course correction is expected in October with six points against Kazakhstan and Norway. The false start will not have such a major impact, as - unlike in 2016 and 2021 - the World Cup qualifiers will not start until later (from March 2025). However, in order to keep a possible back door to the World Cup open by winning their Nations League group and rekindle enthusiasm, they need to turn things around quickly. Rangnick: "We showed a different face during the European Championship qualifiers and at the EURO - we have to get back to that."