Marcel Sabitzer and Christoph Baumgartner star in Austria win
A whole host of Bundesliga stars featured as Austria maintained their 100 percent record at the start of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying by defeat Cyprus 1-0 in Linz.
Austria have not qualified for a World Cup finals since 1998, where they were eliminated in the group stage. However, they have put themselves in a fantastic position to break that drought under Ralf Rangnick after winning their opening three matches in qualifying.
Their latest triumph was over Cyprus, with two Bundesliga stars combining for the game's only goal. It was a foul on RB Leipzig's Christoph Baumgartner that won Austria a penalty, which Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer converted.
A defence featuring Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich), Philipp Lienhart (Freiburg) and Phillipp Mwene (Mainz) then kept out their opponents to protect their side's second clean sheet in three matches. All in all, nine Bundesliga players turned out for the winners.
Sabitzer, who is Austria captain and picked up his 90th cap in the match, said afterwards, "I'll remember the game very well, with my goal and the win. It was a tough game because there are no easy opponents anymore. It wasn't our best game, but we showed our mentality and pushed hard."
Austria are currently second in Group H behind Bosnia & Herzegovina, who have also won all of their matches having played a game more. Rangnick's men will face the leaders in Zenica on Tuesday in a match that could have a big impact on who secures the automatic qualification spot for next summer's finals.
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The Balkan nation also have several players plying their trade in Germany amongst their squad. The pick of the bunch is Ermedin Demirović of VfB Stuttgart, while Jusuf Gazibegović (Cologne), Nikola Vasilj (St. Pauli), Dženis Burnić (Karlsruhe) and Nikola Katić (Schalke) could also all feature.
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