Austria EURO 2020 Preview - History and Expectations

Published on 29 Feb 2020 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 4 minutes

Austria does not qualify for the 2018 World Cup and in the upcoming European finals will try to prove that it is one of the strongest European teams at the national level. The team led by Franco Foda has a lot of class and experience in its composition to be competitive at Euro 2020. The big stars of Austria will try to lead the team to the first participation in the direct eliminations of European finals. 

Check out our preview of Austria at the 2020 European Championships and what we can expect from the team of trainer Franco Foda.

Austria European Championships - History and successes

For the first time in the nation's history, Austria will take part in the European championship for the second time in a row. After their debut in the tournament in 2008 (for which they automatically qualified as hosts), the Austrian team also qualified for Euro 2016 and will now make its third participation in the competition. At Euro 2016, the Austrian team won only one point in the group stage after a 0:0 draw against Portugal. In their other two matches, the Austrians were defeated by Hungary (2:0) and Iceland (2:1).

The Road to Euro 2020

The Austrian team performed strongly in the qualifying campaign and finished second in its group. The Austrian team failed to fight Poland for first place in the group, but with 19 points won a direct place in Euro 2020 and did not have to play barrages. Austria was impressive with the results in the qualifications for the European finals, after scoring 19 goals in 10 games and was the team with the most goals scored in the group. Here we need to mention that the opponents of David Alaba and Co were Poland, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Israel, and Latvia. 

Euro 2020 fixtures

Austria is in Group C of Euro 2020 with the teams of Netherlands, Ukraine, and North Macedonia.

• June 13, 6:00 pm: Austria - North Macedonia / Arena Națională, Bucharest /
• June 17, 9:00 pm: Netherlands - Austria / Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam /
• June 21, 6:00 pm: Ukraine - Austria / Arena Națională, Bucharest /

Austria squad for the European Football Championship 2020

Austria has a number of great players and therefore likes to dominate as the coach Franco Foda certainly has the tools to put this philosophy into practice. In the Austrian midfield, there are players like Baumgartlinger, Sabitzer, and Stefan Ilsanker - this is one of the most balanced midfielders of Euro 2020. With such quality players in the center of the field, David Alaba has more freedom to use his technical qualities, to create a space on the left. A player like Marko Arnautovic in attack is able to change the development of the match with one play, as often happened in West Ham. In defense, Austria is backed by the quality of Bundesliga players - the trio of Alexander Dragovic, Martin Hintegerger, and Stefan Liner, who will be in front of goalkeeper Heinz Linder.

Goalkeepers: Pavao Pervan (Wolfsburg), Alexander Schlager (LASK), Daniel Bachmann (Watford)
Defenders: Aleksandar Dragovic (Bayer Leverkusen), David Alaba (Bayern Munich), Martin Hinteregger (Eintracht Frankfurt), Stefan Lainer (Borussia Monchengladbach), Andreas Ulmer (Red Bull Salzburg), Christopher Trimmel (Union Berlin), Stefan Posch (Hoffenheim), Philipp Lienhart (Freiburg), Marco Friedl (Werder Bremen)
Midfielders: Julian Baumgartlinger (Leverkusen), Stefan Ilsanker (Eintracht Frankfurt), Valentino Lazaro (Inter Milan), Alessandro Schopf (Schalke 04), Florian Grillitsch (Hoffenheim), Konrad Laimer (Leipzig), Louis Schaub (Luzern), Xaver Schlager (Wolfsburg), Christoph Baumgartner (Hoffenheim), Marcel Sabitzer (RB Leipzig)
Forwards: Michael Gregoritsch (Augsburg), Karim Onisiwo (Mainz), Saša Kalajdzic (Stuttgart), Marko Arnautović (Shanghai Port)

Source: www.goal.com

The Big Star: David Alaba

One of the stars of Bayern Munich - David Alaba, is the best football player in the Austrian team. Alaba rarely plays in Austria's defense, but often falls in the midfield and participates in the team's attacks - he is a world-class player in the team. In his last appearances, he returned to more familiar roles, playing left-back in the League of Nations matches against Northern Ireland and Romania in late 2020, before moving to the wing for the next two games and returning to the defense for the recent draw with Scotland in the world qualifiers. Such flexibility reflects his role for Bayern, where he mainly plays as a central defender this season but has also been used on the left-back and winger.

Expectations for Austria at Euro 2020

Although they have never reached the direct elimination phase in this competition, Austria enters Euro 2020 with great chances to play in at least the 1/8 finals given the quality, balance, and experience of their team. We predict 3rd place in the group for Austria, but maybe they can continue in the tournament as one of the four best ranked 3rd place teams. Reaching 1/8 finals will be the maximum we can expect from the boys of trainer Franco Foda.

Odds for Austria

To pass from Group C, which, as we mentioned, including the teams of the Netherlands, Ukraine, and North Macedonia, bookmakers offer high odds, which means they don't expect Austria to win their group. Austria is also out of the top 10 favorites for winning the European title in 2020. Here are the current odds for the "The Boys":

To win Euro 2020	81.00
To win Group C	6.50