Austria women's national football team

Austria
AssociationÖsterreichischer Fußball-Bund (ÖFB)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachIrene Fuhrmann
CaptainSarah Puntigam
Most capsSarah Puntigam (150)
Top scorerNina Burger (53)[1]
FIFA codeAUT
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 19 1 (12 June 2025)[2]
Highest16 (August 2023)
Lowest48 (July – October 2003)
First international
 Mexico 9–0  
(Bari, Italy; 6 July 1970)
Biggest win
  11–0 Armenia 
(Waidhofen, Austria; 10 May 2003)
  11–0 Armenia 
(Waidhofen, Austria; 13 May 2003)
Biggest defeat
 Mexico 9–0  
(Bari, Italy; 6 July 1970)
 Switzerland 9–0  
(8 November 1970)
European Championship
Appearances2 (first in 2017)
Best resultSemifinals (2017)

The Austria women's national football team represents Austria in international women's football competition. The team is controlled by the Austrian Football Association.

The national team is made up mainly of players from the Austrian and German Women's Bundesligas. In 2016, the team qualified for its first-ever major tournament: UEFA Women's Euro 2017.

History

Beginnings

The Austrian team started playing on July 6, 1970, against Mexico in Bari, Italy, competing in the Women's World Cup 1970,[3] unofficial competition held in that country from July 6 to July 15, 1970. The result was a 9–0 crushing defeat, which remains one of its worst results in its history, with this result Austria was quickly out of the competition, playing after months against Switzerland, repeating itself again the defeat against Mexico, 9–0.

It played two recognized friendlies against Switzerland before the first Women's World Cup in 1978 and 1990, losing both by 6–2 and 5–1. The Austrian team did not participate in the inaugural Women's World Cup 1991 in China and also the 1995 edition in Sweden, but during that time played international friendlies. Austria played Women's Euro 1997 Qualifiers, held in Norway and Sweden. It was placed in Class B, in Group 7 with Switzerland, Yugoslavia and Greece, winning three games in a single chance against their three opponents, tying a game against Greece and losing two against Switzerland and Yugoslavia, finishing third in the group and eliminated from both tournaments. Thus, Austria did not enter the 1999 World Cup Qualifiers, held in the United States. Austria ended 1999 with three games of qualifying for the Euro 2001.

2000s and 2010s

The team started 2000 with a 3–0 defeat against Belgium, four days later they lost again, with Poland by 3–2 but won 1–0 against Wales, finishing third and returning to be eliminated from a tournament. The Austrians played their first game of the 2003 World Cup Qualification against Scotland losing 2–1 with goal from Stallinger in the 21st minute, then played against Wales and won 2–0 with another goal from Stallinger and one from Schalkhammer-Hufnagl. Their third match against Belgium was a 3–1 defeat, with a goal by Spieler in the 59th minute. Austria lost their second match against Belgium 4–2, with goals from Szankovich and Fuhrmann, after a month, the team played against Scotland, with a crushing defeat for 5–0 and finally a 1–1 draw with Wales with Austria's only goal coming from Spieler in the 45th minute, ending with 4 points from one win, one tie and four losses, and thus eliminated. The latest and best performing competition of Austria was the qualification for the Women's World Cup in 2011, where they started out poorly but reached third place with 10 points, the product of three wins, one draw and four defeats. They played the 2015 Women's World Cup Qualification, but failed to qualify.

Austria qualified for the first time in its history for a European Championship finals at Euro 2017 in the Netherlands. Reversed in group C with France, Switzerland and Iceland, it thwarted the predictions by finishing in 1st place in the group with two wins (1–0 against Switzerland and 3–0 against Iceland) and a draw (1–1 against France). In the quarter-finals, the Austrians faced the Spanish, 2nd in Group D, and won the penalty shoot-out (0–0, 5–3 on penalties). Their journey ended in the semi-final against Denmark, where unlike the quarter-final win against Spain, this time they failed in the penalty shootout without making a single attempt (0–0, 0–3 pt). The turning point of the game was the missed penalty by Sarah Puntigam in the 13th minute of play which could have given Austria a decisive advantage. Nevertheless, Dominik Thalhammer's team leaves the competition with a more than honorable record, without having lost a single game and with only one goal conceded (against France in the group matches), for their first participation in a major competition.

They qualified for their 2nd consecutive Euro at the 2022 edition where they again passed the first round. Austria finished second in Group A, behind England, the host country of the competition and eventual champions, against whom they lost by a narrow margin (0–1), but ahead of Norway and Northern Ireland, whom they beat 1–0 and 2–0 respectively. In the quarter-finals, they faced Germany, leader of group B, for a German-speaking derby against the most successful team of the competition. In spite of a good performance in which they obtained several goal opportunities (including 3 goalposts touched), they were beaten 0–2 by the eight-time winners who were more realistic and took advantage of two Austrian defensive errors to make the difference.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2024

31 May UEFA Euro 2025 qualifying   1–1  Iceland Ried im Innkreis
18:00
  • Puntigam 26' (pen.)
Report Stadium: Josko Arena
Attendance: 3,788
Referee: Lina Lehtovaara (Finland)
4 June UEFA Euro 2025 qualifying Iceland  2–1   Reykjavík
21:30 (19:30 UTC+0) Report Stadium: Laugardalsvöllur
Attendance: 2,067
Referee: Désirée Grundbacher (Switzerland)
12 July UEFA Euro 2025 qualifying   3–1  Poland Altach
18:00 Report Padilla 75' Stadium: Stadion Schnabelholz
Attendance: 2,343
Referee: Eleni Antoniou (Greece)
16 July UEFA Euro 2025 qualifying Germany  4–0   Hanover
19:00
Report Stadium: Niedersachsenstadion
Attendance: 43,953
Referee: Shona Shukrula (Germany)
25 October UEFA Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs Slovenia  0–3   Koper
18:00 Report Stadium: Bonifika Stadium
Attendance: 458[4]
Referee: Hristiyana Guteva (Bulgaria)
29 October UEFA Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs   2–1
(5–1 agg.)
 Slovenia Ried im Innkreis
18:00
Report
Stadium: Josko Arena
Attendance: 2,600[5]
Referee: Lina Lehtovaara (Finland)
29 November UEFA Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs Poland  1–0   Gdańsk
18:00
Stadium: Gdańsk Stadium
Attendance: 7,025
Referee: Olatz Rivera Olmedo (Spain)
3 December UEFA Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs   0–1
(0–2 agg.)
 Poland Vienna, Austria
18:15 Report
Stadium: Viola Park
Attendance: 3,200
Referee: Ivana Projkovska (North Macedonia)

2025

21 February 2025 UEFA Nations League   1–0  Scotland Ried im Innkreis
18:00 Report Stadium: Josko Arena
Attendance: 1,750[6]
Referee: Silvia Gasperotti (Italy)
25 February 2025 Nations League Germany  4–1   Nuremberg
18:15 Report Schasching 3' Stadium: Max-Morlock-Stadion
Attendance: 14,394
Referee: Ivana Martinčić (Croatia)
4 April 2025 UEFA Nations League Netherlands  3–1   Almelo,Netherlands
20:00
Report
Stadium: Erve Asito
Attendance: 9,039[7]
Referee: Désirée Grundbacher (Switzerland)
8 April 2025 UEFA Nations League   1–3  Netherlands Altach
18:15 Report Stadium: Stadion Schnabelholz
Attendance: 2,350[8]
Referee: Ewa Augustyn (Poland)
30 May 2025 UEFA Nations League Scotland  0–1   Glasgow,Scotland
20:35 Report Stadium: Hampden Park
Attendance: 4,063
Referee: Marta Huerta de Aza (Spain)
3 June 2025 Nations League   0–6  Germany Vienna
20:30 Report
Stadium: Viola Park
Attendance: 5,150
Referee: Ivana Projkovska (North Macedonia)

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Position Name Ref.
Head coach Irene Fuhrmann
Assistant coach Markus Hackl
Assistant coach Christoph Witamwas
Goalkeeper coach Martin Klug
Match analyst Julian Lauer
Athletics coach Dominik Strebinger

Manager history

Players

Current squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Manuela Zinsberger (1995-10-19) 19 October 1995 110 0 Arsenal
21 1GK Isabella Kresche (1998-11-28) 28 November 1998 6 0 AS Roma
23 1GK Mariella El Sherif (2004-09-02) 2 September 2004 1 0 Carl Zeiss Jena

19 2DF Verena Hanshaw (1994-01-20) 20 January 1994 122 10 West Ham United
13 2DF Virginia Kirchberger (1993-05-25) 25 May 1993 116 5 FK Austria Wien
6 2DF Katharina Schiechtl (1993-02-27) 27 February 1993 75 10 Austria Wien
11 2DF Marina Georgieva (1997-04-13) 13 April 1997 48 0 Fiorentina
12 2DF Laura Wienroither (1999-01-13) 13 January 1999 43 2 Manchester City
5 2DF Claudia Wenger (2001-05-06) 6 May 2001 10 0 St. Pölten
2 2DF Chiara D’Angelo (2004-07-31) 31 July 2004 3 0 TSG Hoffenheim

17 3MF Sarah Puntigam (captain) (1992-10-13) 13 October 1992 157 24 Houston Dash
9 3MF Sarah Zadrazil (1993-02-19) 19 February 1993 128 15 Bayern Munich
10 3MF Laura Feiersinger (1993-04-05) 5 April 1993 125 19 1. FC Köln
14 3MF Marie Höbinger (2001-07-01) 1 July 2001 51 7 Liverpool
3MF Katharina Naschenweng (1997-12-16) 16 December 1997 50 6 Bayern Munich
18 3MF Julia Hickelsberger-Füller (1999-08-01) 1 August 1999 43 9 TSG Hoffenheim
16 3MF Annabel Schasching (2002-07-26) 26 July 2002 29 3 SC Freiburg
4 3MF Maria Plattner (1997-12-16) 16 December 1997 13 5 Bayern Munich II
3 3MF Carina Brunold (2002-09-17) 17 September 2002 4 0 SKN St. Pölten
8 3MF Sophie Hillebrand (2002-01-24) 24 January 2002 3 0 SKN St. Pölten

15 4FW Nicole Billa (1996-03-05) 5 March 1996 106 47 1. FC Köln
7 4FW Viktoria Pinther (1998-10-16) 16 October 1998 50 2 Dijon FCO
20 4FW Lilli Purtscheller (2003-08-12) 12 August 2003 24 3 SGS Essen
22 4FW Eileen Campbell (2000-09-17) 17 September 2000 19 8 SC Freiburg

Recent call-ups

  • The following players have been called up to a squad in the past 12 months.
Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Jasmin Pal (1996-08-24) 24 August 1996 5 0 1. FC Köln v.  Germany, 16 July 2024
GK Larissa Rusek (2005-01-01) 1 January 2005 0 0 SV Neulengbach v.  Netherlands, 8 April 2025

DF Laura Spinn (2002-02-07) 7 February 2002 0 0 FC Bergheim v.  Netherlands, 8 April 2025
DF Julia Magerl (2003-05-02) 2 May 2003 4 1 RB Leipzig v.  Netherlands, 8 April 2025
DF Michela Croatto (2002-06-29) 29 June 2002 2 0 RB Leipzig v.  Germany, 25 February 2025
DF Celina Degen (2001-05-16) 16 May 2001 20 3 1. FC Köln v.  Poland, 3 December 2024
DF Jennifer Klein (1999-01-11) 11 January 1999 17 1 St. Pölten v.  Germany, 16 July 2024

MF Nicole Ojukwu (2005-11-28) 28 November 2005 0 0 FC Freiburg v.  Germany, 25 February 2025
MF Barbara Dunst (1997-09-25) 25 September 1997 87 13 Eintracht Frankfurt v.  Poland, 3 December 2024
MF Yvonne Weilharter (2000-12-08) 8 December 2000 6 0 FK Austria v.  Poland, 3 December 2024

FW Lisa Kolb (2001-05-14) 14 May 2001 21 1 SC Freiburg v.  Netherlands, 4 April 2025INJ
FW Melanie Brunnthaler (2000-09-28) 28 September 2000 0 0 SKN St. Pölten v.  Germany, 25 February 2025
FW Valentina Mädl (2005-12-18) 18 December 2005 0 0 SKN St. Pölten v.  Poland, 3 December 2024

Notes:

  • INJ: Withdrew due to injury
  • RET: Player retired from international football
  • SBY: On stand-by

Records

As of 3 June 2025 after the match against Germany.
Players in bold are still active in the national team.

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1991 Did not enter Did not enter
1995
1999
2003 Did not qualify 6 1 1 4 7 15
2007 8 1 1 6 7 19
2011 8 3 1 4 14 12
2015 10 7 0 3 31 14
2019 8 5 1 2 19 7
2023 11 7 1 3 50 8
2027 To be determined To be determined
2031 To be determined To be determined
2035 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/10 51 24 5 22 128 75
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

UEFA Women's Championship

UEFA Women's Championship record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA P/R Rnk
1984 Did not enter Did not enter
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997 Did not qualify 6 3 1 2 8 12
2001 6 1 1 4 6 14
2005 6 5 0 1 31 4
2009 8 3 0 5 13 18
2013 10 6 2 2 17 12
2017 Semi-finals 3rd 5 2 3 0 5 1 Squad 8 5 2 1 18 4
2022 Quarter-finals 7th 4 2 0 2 3 3 Squad 8 6 1 1 22 3
2025 Did not qualify 10 4 1 5 15 15 [a] 11th
Total Semi-finals 2/14 9 4 3 2 8 4 62 33 8 21 130 82 11th
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

UEFA Women's Nations League

UEFA Women's Nations League record
League phase Finals
Season LG Grp Pos Pld W D L GF GA P/R Rnk Year Pos Pld W D L GF GA
2023–24 A 2 2nd 6 3 1 2 7 7 8th 2024 Did not qualify
2025 A 1 To be determined 2025 To be determined
Total 6 5 0 1 23 9 8th Total
Promoted at end of season
No movement at end of season
Relegated at end of season
* Participated in promotion/relegation play-offs

Invitational trophies

See also

Notes

  1. ^ From Euro 2025 onwards a new qualifying format was introduced, linked to the Women's Nations League where teams are divided into leagues with promotion/relegation between the leagues at the end of each cycle.

References

  1. ^ "Nina Burger verkündet Karriere-Ende". oefb.at (in German). 1 April 2019. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  2. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 12 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Coppa del Mondo (Women) 1970". RSSSF.
  4. ^ "Slovenia v Austria" (JSON). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Austria v Slovenia" (JSON). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Austria v Scotland" (JSON). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 21 February 2025. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  7. ^ "Netherlands v Austria" (JSON). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 April 2025. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  8. ^ "Austria v Netherlands" (JSON). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 April 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  9. ^ "Austria mourns Ernst Weber". UEFA. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2021. until 1999 before switching to take charge of the women's national team
  10. ^ "Fuhrmann: I've always stuck to my path". FIFA. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021. After nine years coaching the Austrian women's team, from 2011 to 2020, Dominik Thalhammer recently handed over the reins to Irene Fuhrmann
  11. ^ "Irene Fuhrmann wird erste Teamchefin der ÖFB-Frauen" [Irene Fuhrmann becomes the first team leader of the ÖFB women] (in German). Sky Sport Austria. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Zwei Comebacks im Kader des Frauen-Nationalteams". www.oefb.at. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  13. ^ "Cyprus Women's Cup". RSSSF.