Austria will play its first World Cup match since 1998 on Wednesday morning at 6.00 a.m., opening against Jordan with a squad that has never before appeared on football’s biggest stage. For Ralf Rangnick, it is the start of a campaign built on belief and a rare chance to turn a long absence into something lasting.
The return matters because the wait has been so long. Austria last reached the World Cup 28 years ago, and every player in Rangnick’s squad is making his first appearance at the tournament. The coach has made the mood around the team clear, saying the anticipation is huge and that the side must first get through the group before thinking about anything else.
That optimism rests in part on the players who have already carried Austria through difficult nights. Rangnick has called Xaver Schlager “the man in the engine room” and singled out Nicolas Seiwald as one of Austria’s absolute key players. Their task now is to give the team the same control and energy that helped Austria reach the knockout stage at Europameisterschaft 2024 after a tough group with France, the Netherlands and Poland.
But the build-up has also brought a blow. Christoph Baumgartner has been ruled out shortly before the tournament starts because of a muscle injury, even though he has already traveled to the USA and will still support the team there. It is a reminder that Austria’s return is arriving with promise and absence at the same time: one of its most important attacking names is close enough to feel the moment, but not available to shape it on the pitch.
Rangnick has not hidden the ambition behind the caution. He said Austria’s first goal is to survive the group, and if it does that, the team wants to go further than it did at the Euro, where it lost 1:2 to Turkey in the round of 16. He has even gone as far as saying it is not impossible for Austria to become world champion, a line that sounds bold only until you remember how long this team has waited to get back here.
That is why Wednesday morning feels bigger than a single kickoff. Austria is not only starting a tournament against Jordan; it is starting a test of whether a squad of first-timers can turn a long-awaited return into a run that lasts past the group stage. What happens next will say whether this comeback is merely symbolic or the beginning of something far more ambitious.
