Image: AFP/Stansall
More than four months before the start of EURO 2024, another competition briefly comes into focus for Austria’s national soccer team. The draw for the next edition of the Nations League, the group phase of which will take place next autumn, will take place in Paris on Thursday (6 p.m., ORF Sport+).
The ÖFB team is drawn from Pot 1 in League B and wants to return to the top league as quickly as possible. This would be the case if we won the group; we would also have a chance with second place. Paris. Possible opponents include Erling Haaland’s Norwegians, Ukraine, Ireland or Turkey.
There will definitely be no duels with the English, Welsh and Czechs, who are also placed in Pot 1. Team boss Ralf Rangnick looks forward to the draw calmly. “Our goal is of course to win the group and return to League A – no matter who we get drawn,” said the German.
As runners-up, Red-White-Red would fight for a place in the top division in a two-legged play-off against a third-place team from League A in March 2025. Austria was represented there in 2022, but was relegated in a group with France, Croatia and Denmark. The Austrians would be relegated to League C if they ended up in last place in the fall. In third place, a play-off against a runner-up from League C to stay in League B is on the agenda.
It’s also about a good starting position with a view to the 2026 World Cup
A good performance for David Alaba and Co. would not only result in duels with Europe’s top selections. The Nations League is linked to the World Cup qualification, so a group win would be practically equivalent to participation in the play-off for the 2026 finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada, unless you go to North America via the World Cup qualification route creates.
Europe has 16 starting places for this tournament. Twelve of them will go to the winners of the twelve groups in the World Cup qualifying, which will be played in 2025. The twelve runners-up in the group and the four best Nations League teams that did not make it into the top two in the World Cup qualification will contest play-offs for the last four tickets in March 2026. “With the Nations League, the path to the 2026 World Cup begins after the European Championship,” emphasized Rangnick.
The Turks are visiting Vienna
Austria’s national soccer team will face Turkey in a friendly match at Vienna’s Happel Stadium on March 26th. Advance ticket sales start on February 14th. It was already clear that team boss Ralf Rangnick’s selection would also face Slovakia in a test match on March 23rd in Bratislava. In the days before, there will be a training camp in Marbella.
The last two test games before EURO 2024 have not yet been fixed. They could be at home against Serbia and away against Switzerland at the beginning of June.
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