2023-11-14 04:12:34
Austria’s national soccer team will fight once morest Estonia on Thursday (6 p.m. CET/live Servus TV) for the small chance of finishing their European Championship qualifying group in first place. On the one hand, a win in Tallinn is necessary for this, and on the other hand, the leader Belgium, who is one point ahead of the ÖFB team, is unlikely to win at home once morest Azerbaijan next Sunday. If both teams end up with the same points, the direct duel would speak for Belgium.
The game in Brussels ended 1-1, in Vienna the third-placed team from 2018 won 3-2. Even if the last European Championship qualifying game for the Austrians who have already qualified does not have any impact on the table in Pool F, it is still important for the draw for the EURO 2024 groups. If they win, the ÖFB team should have legitimate hopes of being drawn from pot two on December 2nd in Hamburg. If points were lost, only pot three would remain.
The European Championship qualification was first held in a group phase for the final round in 1968, and since then Austria has only finished in first place once – for the 2016 tournament. Second place came out three times (1972, 1980, 2021), which was only enough for a starting place at the pan-European European Championship three and a half years ago.
Estonia is an opponent who has only scored one point in their six European Championship qualifying games so far (a 1-1 draw in Azerbaijan). In the FIFA world rankings, Austria is 25th, 93 positions ahead of the Baltics. The selection, which has been coached by the Swiss Thomas Häberli since 2021, has only won one of ten international matches this year; a test match in January in Finland resulted in a 1-0 victory.
The Estonians are missing six injured and one suspended players once morest Austria. The most expensive kicker in the current squad is Karl Hein, valued at 1.5 million euros. The 21-year-old goalie is under contract with Arsenal, but has not yet played in the Premier League or Champions League.
Nevertheless, the ÖFB internationals should be warned. Last March in Linz it was 1-1 until the 88th minute before a deflected shot from Michael Gregoritsch brought salvation. Before that there were two showdowns between Austria and Estonia, which ended with a home 2-0 and an away 3-0 for red-white-red as part of the qualification for the 1998 World Cup.
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