For the Nations League

A debutant! Here’s Rangnick’s ÖFB squad

Ralf Rangnick(Bild: GEPA)

Austria’s national soccer team head coach Ralf Rangnick is giving promising young talent Luca Weinhandl his first chance during the final international break of the year. The 17-year-old midfielder from Sturm Graz has been named to the squad for the final Nations League group stage matches against Ireland (November 14 in Linz) and Israel (November 17 in Debrecen). Injured ÖFB captain David Alaba is once again out, but defender Michael Svoboda and Christoph Baumgartner are both returning to the squad. 

Svoboda, who plays for Brighton, replaces Marco Friedl, who is now only on the standby list. Both were part of the World Cup squad this summer. In addition to the injured Nikolas Veratschnig, Maximilian Wöber, Paul Wanner, and Patrick Wimmer, Vasilije Markovic also appears to be absent from the 25-man roster, unlike in the most recent training camp. The Austria youngster, who—along with Weinhandl—was a U-17 World Cup runner-up last year, is set to bolster the ÖFB U-19 team. LASK captain Sascha Horvath, who was added to the roster at the end of September, retained his spot.

The Weinhandl Phenomenon
Weinhandl has established himself as a regular starter at Sturm this year. According to media reports, the 1.90-meter-tall player has attracted interest from several major English clubs; the website transfermarkt.at lists him as the most valuable player in the Austrian Bundesliga with a market value of 15 million euros. If Weinhandl makes his debut this year, he would be the fourth-youngest ÖFB national team player since World War II. Only Alaba (debut in 2009), Hans Buzek (1955), and Yusuf Demir (2021) were younger.

Luca Weinhandl (right)(Bild: GEPA)

Demir remains on the standby list, as he has been recently. Rangnick thus once again did not select any players from Bundesliga leader Rapid, but did include four from champion LASK: in addition to Horvath, Christoph Lang, Sasa Kalajdzic, and goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth. The latter could make his senior national team debut against Ireland at his club’s stadium. Along with the former U21 goalkeeper, Salzburg’s Christian Zawieschitzky, Florian Wiegele, and World Cup goalkeeper Alexander Schlager once again make up the quartet of goalkeepers.

Baumgartner Returns After Five Months
Baumgartner is available for the Austrian national team for the first time since suffering a severe thigh tendon injury shortly before the World Cup warm-up match against Tunisia (1-0) in early June. The 27-year-old has impressed with three goals in competitive matches during his four brief appearances for RB Leipzig since his comeback. Alaba, on the other hand, remains sidelined due to a calf injury he sustained two weeks ago during his first start for his new club, Udinese.

Christoph Baumgartner(Bild: GEPA)

In the absence of these two key players, the Austrian national team remained undefeated in its first four Nations League matches in late September and early October. Against Israel (3–1), Kosovo (3–1 at home, 1–1 on the road), and in Ireland (2–2), the Austrians earned a total of eight points. A home win against the Irish would secure the group title—and with it, a return to League A among the top nations—ahead of schedule.

The following players are on the ÖFB roster:

GOALKEEPER: Lukas JUNGWIRTH (LASK; 0), Alexander SCHLAGER (SV Werder Bremen/GER; 32), Florian WIEGELE (Viktoria Pilsen/CZE; 2), Christian ZAWIESCHITZKY (FC Red Bull Salzburg; 1) 

DEFENSE: David AFFENGRUBER (Fulham FC/ENG; 3/1), Felix BACHER (Olympique Lyon/FRA; 1/0), Kevin DANSO (Sunderland AFC/ENG; 39/0), Philipp LIENHART (SC Freiburg/GER; 45/3), Phillipp MWENE (1. FSV Mainz 05/GER; 34/1), Stefan POSCH (1. FSV Mainz 05/GER; 59/5), Alexander PRASS (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim/GER; 24/1), Michael SVOBODA (Brighton & Hove Albion FC/ENG; 4/0) 

MIDFIELD: Christoph BAUMGARTNER (RB Leipzig/GER; 58/19), Carney CHUKWUEMEKA (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 9/2), Sascha HORVATH (LASK; 1/0), Konrad LAIMER (FC Bayern Munich/GER; 63/7), Christoph LANG (LASK; 2/1), Xaver SCHLAGER (Nottingham Forest FC/ENG; 59/4), Romano SCHMID (Frosinone Calcio/ITA; 42/5), Nicolas SEIWALD (RB Leipzig/GER; 55/1), Luca WEINHANDL (SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz; 0) 

FORWARDS: Junior ADAMU (FC Schalke 04/GER; 10/1), Michael GREGORITSCH (FC Augsburg/GER; 81/25), Marco GRÜLL (SV Werder Bremen/GER; 10/0), Sasa KALAJDZIC (LASK; 29/6) 

SUBSTITUTES: Nicolas KRISTOF (SV Elversberg/GER; 0), Patrick PENTZ (Brøndby IF/DEN; 18); Samson BAIDOO (RC Lens/FRA; 1/0), Marco FRIEDL (SV Werder Bremen/GER; 13/0), Jannik SCHUSTER (Brentford FC/ENG; 0), Valentin ZABRANSKY (FC Red Bull Salzburg; 0); Yusuf DEMIR (SK Rapid; 4/0), Jacob Peter HÖDL (SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz; 0), Dejan LJUBICIC (FC Schalke 04/GER; 9/1), Alessandro SCHÖPF (LASK; 35/6), Matthias SEIDL (SK Rapid; 8/1); Oluwaseun ADEWUMI (Hertha BSC/GER; 0), Raul FLORUCZ (Royale Union St. Gilloise/BEL; 3/0), Marco HOFFMANN (TSV Egger Glas Hartberg; 0)