Austria – Romania

Austria is in for an uncomfortable match

On Saturday, 7 June, the Austrian national team will play against Romania. In Group H there is a very tight battle for first place. The Austrians have not played yet while Bosnia and Herzegovina has unexpectedly taken the lead. The Austrian team is the formal favourite in this group. There are very high expectations from the team after the European Championship. System coach Ralf Rangnick surprised with his national team. Austria reached the 1/8 finals and had a very decent tournament. The team was able to stand on equal terms with the Netherlands and France. At the same time, further there was a decline. Austria played poorly in the Nations League. The team lost points against Slovenia at home, lost the first place in the group to Norway. In the knockout matches they failed to cope with Serbia. Now Austria is far from having a stellar generation. Rangnick relies more on performers who are specialised in pressing and workload. The coach's signature football is built on constant pressure on the opponent. There is too much risk involved. Romania is the complete opposite. The national team played in a very cautious mode at the European Championship and reached the play-offs. The result was considered a colossal success, as the Romanians were not even expected to be among the sixteen strongest teams. An important fact: in the summer of 2024 the national team changed the coach. The team was led by Mircea Lucescu. In the Nations League, Romania continued to progress, although they were lucky with the group. There the national team defeated Kosovo, Cyprus and Lithuania. There are no questions about the first place. Romania is clearly set up to fight for qualification for the World Cup. The Nations League was great with it, but here in qualification there was already an important defeat from Bosnia. Now it will be much more difficult to fight for the first place. Romania's squad is not much weaker than Austria. The midfield line stands out: there are four players playing in Serie A. The leader of the national team remains a sharp winger Dennis Man. But the offence is in trouble: Denis Alibek is still called up to the team. The 34-year-old forward has scored only six goals in 43 matches and plays for the modest club Farul. Now it is logical for Romania to play from defence. The odds on the visitors are over 7.00. It is doubtful that Austria will have such a significant advantage. The team will play against an uncomfortable opponent in terms of style. Previously, the opponents met each other in the Nations League in 2020. Then the national teams exchanged away minimal victories. That is, the advantage of Austria is not seen in head-to-head meetings. In addition, the Romanians may have more energy now - the core team plays in the local league, while the Austrians are tired from a busy season.