Austria are gearing for their first World Cup since 1998. Ranked 24th by FIFA, Das Team ended their 28-year wait to qualify following a dominant run in the qualifiers which saw them win six times in eight and lose just once.
With 19 points in the bag, Ralf Rangnick's side finished atop the Group H standings to seal a direct ticket for the showpiece and hence, their eighth appearance in the competition overall as Austria were finally back on football's biggest stage.
Their reward for a successful qualifier though, was being drawn into a tough-looking group against world champions Argentina, African giants Algeria and debutants Jordan, against whom the side opens their campaign on 16 June in Group J.
Austria began their preparations for the tournament in March with a pair of friendly wins over Ghana and South Korea and come up against Tunisia and Guatemala next month for their last dress rehearsal before kicking it off.
Head coach Ralf Rangnick announced an exciting 26-man squad that will be competing at the World Cup, headlined by the iconic and long-time Borussia Dortmund rival David Alaba. All-time top-scorer and appearance-maker Marko Arnautovic is summoned too.
Borussia Dortmund duo called-up
In more happy news for the BVB fans, two of their players - Carney Chukwuemeka and Marcel Sabitzer have also been called-up too as the midfield duo would be among those repping the Bundesliga club at the showpiece.
Sabitzer is honestly an unsurprising inclusion, with Dortmund anchorman being one of the senior figures in the Austrian squad with 97 caps to his name. He is likely to hit the century mark at the tournament itself.
Shouldering the role of a third captain, the 32-year-old is a versatile, box-to-box midfielder known for his innate tactical intelligence, impeccable passing range and strong hold-up play. Having graduated from Red Bull's high-energy system, Sabitzer is good at pressing while simultaneously lunging into crunch tackles.
He can be a serious goalscoring threat too, especially from long distance as the former RB Leipzig star cane fire one in from range and has bagged a total of 25 goals for the national side.
As for Chukwuemeka, the young lad is heading to his first major tournament after switching allegiance from England to Austria. Rangnick had been pursuading the player for over a year and the Dortmund midfielder chose to represent Das Team with the World Cup coming up and Three Lions still reluctant to call him up.
The 23-year-old showed flashes of brilliance with Dortmund this season, his ball control and composure belying his age while also contributing five goals in all competitions.
Chukwuemeka was on target for Austria on his international debut against Ghana, netting in their 5-1 win on 27 March, signaling what's to come from him at the World Cup and beyond.
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