Nations League: ÖFB women secured relegation with a 2-1 win over Norway

2023-12-05 20:35:00

This means that team boss Irene Fuhrmann’s team will also be competing against the best teams in the European Championship qualification for the 2025 finals next year.

Eileen Campbell (9th) took the early lead with her third Nations League goal, while substitute Katharina Schiechtl headed in the 89th minute to make it 2-0. The Norwegians missed a penalty at the end (87th), but managed to score an ultimately insignificant goal through Karina Sävik (94th).

The Austrians took control of the game from the start with early and aggressive forechecking and were rewarded early on. Lilli Purtscheller, who was called up instead of Laura Feiersinger and made her starting eleven debut in the national team, prevailed on the right side and Campbell used her cross with perfect shooting technique.

The defensively-minded Norwegians scored twice through Ada Hegerberg (18th) and Frida Maanum (25th), but they didn’t cause any problems for goalkeeper Manuel Zinsberger. The Scandinavians, who had to replace their injured top player Caroline Graham Hansen, picked up a bit afterwards. The Fuhrmann team had everything under control in defense and repeatedly combined in front of the opponent’s goal, only the last pass didn’t work.

Better starting position for European Championship qualification

With three new players and more enthusiasm, the Norwegians fought for their last chance to avoid the play-offs after the break. The visiting team increasingly took over command, also because the red-white-red players increasingly made bad passes. In the finish, the Norwegians also had very good chances to equalize, but Celin Bizet Ildhusöy (68′), Sävik (71′) and Sophie Haug’s header (75′) missed the target.

In the last few minutes things got really turbulent again. After a handball by Campbell in the penalty area, Marit Bratberg Lund missed a penalty (87th), which she put over the goal. On the other side, substitute Schiechtl made it 2-0 (89th), but Sävik put the final point with 1-2 (94th).

With a lot of luck in the finish, the Austrians got three points and thus won the second “deciding game” against Norway in the recent past. At the European Championships 2022 in England, the Austrians made it to the quarter-finals with a 1-0 win. In the Nations League, the two teams drew 1-1 in Oslo in September.

With this success, the ÖFB women have also gained a better starting position for qualifying for the next European Championship, which begins in spring 2024.