Austria vs Cyprus prediction: EUROPE: World Championship – Qualification betting tips on match 2025-09-05 18:45.
[p]Austria will look to continue their 100% record in their 2026 World Cup qualifying (WCQ) campaign when they host Cyprus on Saturday. [/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]Austria last qualified for the World Cup in 1998, but they will have high hopes of ending that drought as they’re the highest-ranked side in Group H. True to their tag as the group’s strongest side, they’ve won their opening two games, beating Romania and San Marino. Ralf Rangnick’s men should be confident of following up those successes at home, where they’re unbeaten in eight encounters (W6, D2), and having overcome several top-50 nations in the process, they certainly won’t fear a Cyprus side who are ranked outside of the top 100. [/p]
[p]Cyprus have never qualified for a major tournament before and it looks like their wait will go on. Despite beating San Marino 2-0 to open their campaign, defeats against Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-1) and Romania (2-0) either side of a hard-fought 2-2 friendly draw with Bulgaria highlight just how far behind the bigger nations they are. Things appear unlikely to get much better here either, as Cyprus have lost their last 12 qualifiers away from home in bidding to reach either the World Cup or the UEFA European Championship. [/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]Austria have won six of their seven meetings with Cyprus, scoring at least twice in each of those victories, but their only defeat in this match-up came during their most recent H2H in 2005. [/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Austria haven’t trailed at half-time in any of their last ten internationals.[/p]
[p]None of Austria’s last seven qualifiers for a major tournament have ended in a draw (W6, L1).[/p]
[p]Cyprus have led at half-time in just one of their last nine matches. [/p]
[p]Cyprus have received the first booking in each of their last six away internationals. [/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Marko Arnautović is just four goals away from eclipsing Austria’s all-time top scorer, Toni Polster (44), and his country have won on his last eight international scoring appearances. Konstantinos Laifis netted Cyprus’ most recent goal, but having been shown a card in four of his last six games for his country, he’s more familiar with the referee’s notebook than the scoresheet. [/p]
[p]Maximilian Wöber and Marco Friedl are unavailable for Austria due to injury, while the hosts are also without Gernot Trauner. Cyprus appear to be close to full strength. [/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]Given Austria’s recent success at home and Cyprus’ struggles on the road, predicting the hosts to be leading at half-time and full-time seems highly plausible. [/p]
[p][i]Author: Alex Bowmer[/i][/p]