ÖFB team triumphs 4-0 against San Marino – ranking consolidated!

ÖFB team triumphs 4-0 against San Marino – ranking consolidated!

On June 10, 2025, the Austrian national soccer team played against San Marino in the World Cup qualifiers and celebrated a confident 4-0 victory. With this success, the team moves to second place in the group and is now only three points behind league leaders Bosnia, with one game less and a better goal difference South Tyrol News reported.

ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick's team was dominant on the pitch. Marko Arnautovic scored the first goal in the 3rd minute after converting a cross pass from Stefan Posch. Just a few minutes later, in the 11th minute, Michael Gregoritsch scored, supported by Konrad Laimer winning the ball. Arnautovic then found the goal again in the 15th minute and increased the score to 3-0. Christoph Baumgartner rounded off this strong first half with a header in the 27th minute.

Dominance of the ÖFB team

The first half was characterized by the dominance of the Austrian team, which also performed stably in defense. Mathias Honsak made his debut as an attacking left-back, while Marco Friedl played in the center of defense. Despite an opportunity for San Marino through Samuele Zannoni shortly before half-time, the ÖFB team remained clearly superior.

Particular attention was paid to the changes at halftime. Rangnick made four changes, including the substitution of goalkeeper Tobias Lawal as well as Thierno Ballo and Leopold Querfeld. These strategic changes were aimed at maintaining control of the game and extending the lead.

Lack of exploitation of opportunities

During the second half, the team failed to extend their lead. A penalty from Arnautovic was saved by Sanmarina goalkeeper Edoardo Colombo, and another goal from Posch was disallowed due to an offensive foul. This prevented the team from improving their highest away win in a qualifying match beyond their previous record of 5-0 against Liechtenstein ten years ago.

With a view to the next qualifying games, Rangnick emphasized that the team needs to work on the goal difference. The next challenges are on September 6th against Cyprus in Linz and on September 9th against Bosnia in Zenica.

Overall, Austria delivered a strong performance and with this success secured valuable points in the World Cup qualification. However, the joy of the victory was diminished by a minute of mourning dedicated to the victims of the Graz shooting spree before the game. This gesture shows the humanity of football, even if the competitive spirit is at the forefront, in the spirit of the words of captain Sabitzer, who spoke of the potential for improvement in the team after the recent game against Romania, which Austria won 2-1 Small newspaper reported.