The Austria national football team (german: Österreichische Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in men's international football competition and it is controlled by the

Austrian Football Association The Austrian Football Association (german: Österreichischer Fußball-Bund; ÖFB) is the governing body of football in Austria. It organises the football league, Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Cup and the Austria national football team, as well ...

(German: Österreichischer Fußball-Bund). Austria has qualified for seven

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s, most recently in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. The country played in the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

for the first time in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, when it co-hosted the event with Switzerland, and most recently qualified in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

History

Pre-World War II

The

("ÖFB") was founded on 18 March 1904 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Max Scheuer Max Scheuer (9 September 1895 – post August 1941) was an Austrian international footballer who played the defender position. He played for the Austria national football team in the 1923 season. In the 1920s he played for and captained Hakoah V ...

, a Jewish defender who played for the Austria national football team in 1923, was subsequently killed during

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

in Auschwitz concentration camp. The team enjoyed success in the 1930s under coach

Hugo Meisl Hugo Meisl (16 November 1881 – 17 February 1937), brother of the journalist Willy Meisl, was the multi-lingual football coach of the famous Austrian ' Wunderteam' of the early 1930s, as well as a referee. Background Meisl was born to a Jewish ...

, becoming a dominant side in Europe and earning the nickname "

Wunderteam ''Wunderteam'' (; ''Wonder Team'') was the name given to the Austria national football team of the 1930s. Led by manager Hugo Meisl, the team had an unbeaten streak of 14 games between April 1931 and December 1932. The style of the team focused on q ...

". The team's star was

Matthias Sindelar Matthias Sindelar (, cz, Matěj Šindelář; 10 February 1903 – 23 January 1939) was an Austrian professional footballer. Regarded as one of the greatest Austrian players of all time, Sindelar played for Austria Wien and the Austria national ...

. On 16 May 1931, they were the first continental European side to defeat

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. In the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

, Austria finished fourth after losing 1–0 to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the semi-finals and 3–2 to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the third place play-off. Peru_v_Austria_1936_Juan_Valdivieso

They were runners-up in the

1936 Olympics 1936 Olympics may refer to: *The 1936 Winter Olympics, which were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany *The 1936 Summer Olympics, which were held in Berlin, Germany {{Short pages monitor , after the match against .

Honours

Official

** Third place: 1954 *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

** Silver Medal:

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

Notes

References

External links

*
FIFA profile

UEFA profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austria national football team Austria national football team European national association football teams Football in Austria