This is a record of Austria's results at the FIFA World Cup. Austria has played at seven World Cups. They also qualified for the tournament in 1938, but withdrew after the annexation of Austria by the Third Reich, with some of its team members joining the German team.
Summary
1930 World Cup in Uruguay
The first edition of the FIFA World Cup in Uruguay was the only one without qualifiers. However, the Austrian Football Association chose not to participate.
1934 World Cup in Italy
After defeating France and Hungary on their way into the semi-finals, the strong Austrian squad lost 0-1 to hosts and eventual champions Italy. In the Third Place Match against Germany, Austria conceded a goal after 25 seconds by Ernst Lehner - the fastest goal in World Cup history until 1962.
1938 World Cup in France
After qualifying by defeating Latvia in the qualifiers, Austria was drawn against Sweden in the first round. However, after the Anschluss in March 1938, the Austrian Football Association was incorporated into the German system. Nine Austrian players were called up for the German national squad instead. After being fielded in the opening match against Switzerland, Willibald Schmaus and goalkeeper Rudolf Raftl were the first players ever to represent two different nations at the FIFA World Cup. The match ended 1-1. In the decisive rematch, Austrian striker Wilfried Hahnemann scored the opening goal, but the final score was 2-4 and Germany eliminated from the tournament.
1950 World Cup in Brazil
Austria initially registered to participate and was supposed to play Turkey in the qualifications, but withdrew. At a later stage, Turkey also withdrew.
1982 World Cup in Spain
Drawn in Group 2 alongside Algeria, Chile, and the Federal Republic of (West) Germany, Austria gained traction by defeating the South Americans 1-0 in the first group match. Austria later won 2-0 over the Algerians that saw them at a comfortable position in the group stage; however, Algeria, having already beaten West Germany in an upset, found themselves victorious against an already-eliminated Chile, and thus were all-but guaranteed to proceed to the next round alongside Germany, potentially leaving Austria out.
Austria played their decisive final group stage encounter against neighbors West Germany in Gijón, Spain, in one of the most controversial matches in World Cup history. Nicknamed "the Disgrace of Gijón, the match saw West Germany scoring once against Austria before both teams and players deliberately played underwhelmingly, wasting the clock and mathematically having both European teams of the group qualify at the expense of Africa's Algeria, the latter whom had defeated the Chileans a day prior to conclude their part of the group stage. Outrage from Algerian fans and Spanish spectators ensued, and both the German and Austrian media condemned the underhanded tactics of both teams' method of subversive "boring" football, with the German commentary team constantly apologizing to viewers for the sub-par action. Algerian football fans dubbed the match "the Anschluss", a reference to Austria being annexed by Germany under the Nazi regime. Austria saw themselves bowing out in a three-team group of the second stage, losing to France and drawing with Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, West Germany reached the final, losing 3-1 to European rivals Italy.
Afterwards
Since 2002, the Austria national football team never qualified in the other World Cup editions as of now. The other being Norway.
Record at the FIFA World Cup
| FIFA World Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA |
 1930 |
Did not enter | |||||||
 1934 |
Fourth place | 4th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 |
 1938 |
Withdrew | |||||||
 1950
| ||||||||
 1954 |
Third place | 3rd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 12 |
 1958 |
Group stage | 15th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
 1962 |
Withdrew | |||||||
 1966 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 1970
| ||||||||
 1974
| ||||||||
 1978 |
Second round | 7th | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
 1982 |
Second round | 8th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 1986 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 1990 |
Group stage | 18th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
 1994 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
| 1998 |
Group stage | 23rd | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
  2002 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
| 2006
| ||||||||
 2010
| ||||||||
 2014
| ||||||||
 2018
| ||||||||
 2022 |
To be determined | |||||||
 2026
| ||||||||
| Total | Third place | 7/21 | 29 | 12 | 4 | 13 | 43 | 47 |
- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
| Austria's World Cup record | |
|---|---|
| First match |  Austria 3–2 France  (27 May 1934; Turin, Italy) |
| Biggest win | Austria 5–0 Czechoslovakia  (19 June 1954; Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Biggest defeat | West Germany 6–1 Austria (30 June 1954; Basel, Switzerland) |
| Best result | Third place in 1954 |
| Worst result | Group stage in 1958, 1990 and 1998 |
By Match
Record by Opponent
| FIFA World Cup matches (by team) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Wins | Draws | Losses | Total | Goals Scored | Goals Conceded |
 Algeria |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Brazil |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
 Cameroon |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Chile |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Czechoslovakia |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| England |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| France |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Germany |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
 Hungary |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Italy |
0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
 Netherlands |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
 Northern Ireland |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
 Scotland |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
 Soviet Union |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Spain |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Sweden |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Switzerland |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 |
| United States |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Uruguay |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| West Germany |
1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
Record players
| No. | Name | Matches | World Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friedrich Koncilia | 11 | 1978 and 1982 |
| Erich Obermayer | 11 | 1978 and 1982 | |
| Bruno Pezzey | 11 | 1978 and 1982 | |
| Herbert Prohaska | 11 | 1978 and 1982 | |
| 5 | Hans Krankl | 10 | 1978 and 1982 |
| 6 | Gerhard Hanappi | 8 | 1954 and 1958 |
| Karl Koller | 8 | 1954 and 1958 | |
| Walter Schachner | 8 | 1978 and 1982 | |
| 9 | Alfred Körner | 7 | 1954 and 1958 |
Top goalscorers
| No. | Name | Goals | World Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erich Probst | 6 | 1954 |
| 2 | Hans Krankl | 5 | 1978 (4) and 1982 (1) |
| 3 | Ernst Stojaspal | 3 | 1954 |
| Theodor Wagner | 3 | 1954 | |
| Alfred Körner | 3 | 1954 (2) and 1958 (1) | |
| Walter Schachner | 3 | 1978 (1) and 1982 (2) |
Awards
Team awards
- Third Place 1954
Individual awards
- Silver Ball 1954: Matthias Sindelar
- Silver Boot 1954: Erich Probst
Ernst Happel has won 2nd Place as a coach with the Netherlands in 1978 after losing the final 3-1 a.e.t. to Argentina