Ralf Rangnick has named a 26-man squad for Austria’s first World Cup in 28 years including a spine of senior German Bundesliga players and only three forwards.
Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Kevin Danso, 27, has made the group along with David Alaba, although the 33-year-old has only made 15 appearances for Real Madrid this term.
Konrad Laimer, 28, has made the World Cup squad — after a record-breaking Bundesliga triumph with Bayern Munich — and is joined in midfield by Borussia Dortmund pair Marcel Sabitzer and Carney Chukwuemeka, formerly of Chelsea.
Head coach Rangnick has only named three recognised forwards, however, with Red Star Belgrade’s Marko Arnautovic — the 37-year-old formerly of Stoke City, West Ham United and Inter — included alongside Brondby’s Michael Gregoritsch and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Sasa Kalajdzic, who has made 27 appearances on loan at LASK this season.
Arnautovic has scored 47 goals in 132 appearances for Austria (GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/AFP via Getty Images)
Austria last competed in a World Cup in 1998, where they exited at the group stage, but qualified before the play-offs last year after a campaign that included their biggest-ever victory, a 10-0 win against San Marino in October.
Chukwuemeka, 22, has received his first call-up since, after switching allegiance from England where he appeared in the youth set-up. The midfielder appeared off the bench in both March friendlies, scoring against Ghana in the 5-1 win.
Rangnick has been head coach since 2022, after the nation failed to qualify for the previous iteration of the tournament. The former RB Leipzig and Manchester United coach guided Austria to their first group win in the 2024 European Championship ahead of France and the Netherlands , however, before they lost to Turkey in the last-16 stage.
Goalkeepers: Alexander Schlager (Red Bull Salzburg), Florian Wiegele (Viktoria Plzen), Patrick Pentz (Brondby)
Defenders: David Affengruber (Elche), Kevin Danso (Tottenham Hotspur), Stefan Posch (Como), David Alaba (Real Madrid), Philipp Lienhart (Freiburg), Phillipp Mwene (Mainz), Alexander Prass (Hoffenheim), Marco Friedl (Werder Bremen), Michael Svoboda (Venezia)
Midfielders: Xaver Schlager (RB Leipzig), Nicolas Seiwald (RB Leipzig), Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund), Florian Grillitsch (Braga), Carney Chukwuemeka (Borussia Dortmund), Romano Schmid (Werder Bremen), Christoph Baumgartner (Hoffenheim), Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich), Patrick Wimmer (VfL Wolfsburg), Paul Wanner (PSV), Alessandro Schopf (Wolfsberger)
Forwards: Marko Arnautovic (Red Star Belgrade), Michael Gregoritsch (Brondby), Sasa Kalajdzic (Wolverhampton Wanderers)