Indeed, Austria fell short of qualifying for their first World Cup since 1998 after losing 2-1 to Wales in a playoff at the Cardiff City Stadium in March.

Despite only finishing fourth in Group F, their strong performance during the previous UEFA Nations League campaign provided them with another chance of competing on the grandest stage of them all this winter.

However, they could not take the opportunity, leading to former Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick replacing Franco Foda as head coach in June.

The German won his first match in charge with an impressive 3-0 win away to Croatia, but has failed to win any of his ensuing five games in League A of the Nations League, leading to their demotion to League B after a 2-0 defeat to France in September.



译文(自动翻译仅供参考):

事实上，奥地利今年3月在加的夫城体育场的一场季后赛中2-1不敌威尔士，无缘1998年以来的第一次世界杯。

尽管只在F组排名第四，但他们在上一届欧足联国家联赛中的出色表现为他们提供了今年冬天在最盛大的舞台上竞争的另一个机会。

然而，他们没有抓住这个机会，导致前曼联主帅拉尔夫·朗尼克在6月取代佛朗哥·福达成为主教练。

德国人在他执教的第一场比赛中以3-0大胜克罗地亚，但在随后的5场国甲比赛中，他一场都没赢，导致国甲在9月份0 - 2负于法国队后降至B联赛。