Austria vs. Cyprus: Prediction and Match Preview

September 6, 2025. 21:45. Austria. Linz. Raiffeisen-Arena.
2026 World Cup Qualifiers. Group H. 5th Round

Austria vs. Cyprus

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Injured players: Maximilian Weber, Gernot Trauner, Marco Friedl – Nicolas Ioannou

Austria

The Austrian national team last played at the World Cup in 1998, which was their only participation to date. In a group with Italy, Chile and Cameroon, they drew twice and did not win a single match, finishing third, ahead of the African team on goal difference. The next six qualifying campaigns were unsuccessful, but Austria are ready to make another breakthrough at the seventh attempt. They will face two clearly weaker teams in the group, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania also do not look invincible. Ralf Rangnick's team came close to promotion in the Nations League last autumn, losing 1-3 on aggregate to Serbia in the battle for a place in League A. Due to the play-offs in March, Austria joined the qualifiers a little later than their opponents, but they started strongly. They beat Romania 2-1 at home, thanks to goals from Gregorić and Sabitzer, and then easily defeated San Marino 4-0. Veteran Marko Arnautovic scored a brace in that match and now holds the record for most caps for Austria with 125, 18 ahead of David Alaba. He is just three goals shy of Toni Polster's all-time top scorer, while Gregoric and Baumgartner have added one each.

Cyprus

The Cypriots are going through another qualifying campaign with little hope of success. In their previous match, they finished second to last, level on points with Malta but ahead on goal difference. This time they are likely to be heading for the same place, although they could pick up more points and leave San Marino far behind as the clear underdogs of the group.

Under Akis Mantsios, Cyprus began these qualifiers with a 2-0 home win over the underdogs, although it could have been a rout if not for the heroics of San Marino goalkeeper Edoardo Colombo. A few days later they lost 2-1 away to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica, and then lost 2-0 to Romania in Bucharest in June after a 2-2 draw in a friendly against Bulgaria. Now Mantzios' team faces another tough away trip, from which they will almost certainly return empty-handed.

Austria vs Cyprus: Expected Lineups

Austria vs Cyprus: Author's Prediction

Austria and Cyprus have met six times in European qualifiers, and surprisingly, Austria has won each match as the clear favourites, a status they still retain to this day. Their last meeting was back in 1999, when Austria won 3-1 in Vienna. In this match, I have no doubts about the winner. The only question is the margin of victory for Rangnick's team and whether Cyprus can score at all. With the away game against Bosnia in a few days, I expect Austria to secure a comfortable victory without overexerting themselves. I'm betting on a two or three goal difference, and I'm betting on another goal from Marko Arnautovic, who will chase Polster's record.