Austria vs Romania prediction: EUROPE: World Championship – Qualification betting tips on match 2025-06-06 18:45.
[p]Austria spent the March international break involved in the UEFA Nations League play-offs, but missed out on promotion to League A as they lost 3-1 in a two-legged tie against Serbia. They must pick themselves up from that disappointment to begin their qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup (WCQ), and having not qualified for any of the last six editions of the tournament, they have plenty of wrongs to put right.[/p]
[p]Despite the defeat to Serbia, Ralf Rangnick’s side are in good shape overall, with their 2-0 loss in the second leg of that tie the first time they’d tasted defeat in six games (W3, D2). Austria had also scored at least once in 27 of their 28 previous games, and with Rangnick having already successfully guided them to Euro 2024, they’ll carry plenty of hope in reaching a second successive major tournament.[/p]
[p]Visitors Romania have enjoyed a great deal of success since Mircea Lucescu’s return for a second stint at the helm in August 2024. They followed up a flawless Nations League campaign which saw them promoted with a 100% record, with three points from their opening two WCQ games in March (W1, L1), and have now scored 3+ goals in six of their last eight contests (W7, L1).[/p]
[p]Like Austria, they’ve not qualified for a World Cup since the 1998 edition, so their 1-0 defeat to pre-round table toppers Bosnia & Herzegovina could hinder their progress. They also enter this clash as huge underdogs, but can certainly take heart from a rousing 3-2 win in their most recent away H2H in September 2020.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Austria’s Christoph Baumgartner has directly contributed to seven goals across his last six international appearances (G2, A5), and already has three to his name in two games against Romania (G1, A2). Răzvan Marin has scored seven goals in his last eight international outings for Romania, five of which came from the penalty spot.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: The last four H2Hs all stood level at half-time.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Ben Olawumi[/i][/p]