Austria national football team

The Austria national football team (Österreichische Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Austria in men's international football competition and it is controlled by the Austrian Football Association (Österreichischer Fußball-Bund). Austria has qualified for seven FIFA World Cups, most recently in 1998. The country played in the UEFA European Championship for the first time in 2008, when it co-hosted the event with Switzerland, and most recently qualified in 2020. The Austrian Football Association ("ÖFB") was founded on 18 March 1904 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Max Scheuer, a Jewish defender who played for the Austria national football team in 1923, was subsequently killed during the Holocaust in Auschwitz concentration camp. The team enjoyed success in the 1930s under coach Hugo Meisl, becoming a dominant side in Europe and earning the nickname "Wunderteam". The team's star was Matthias Sindelar. On 16 May 1931, they were the first continental European side to defeat Scotland. In the 1934 FIFA World Cup, Austria finished fourth after losing 1–0 to Italy in the semi-finals and 3–2 to Germany in the third place play-off. They were runners-up in the 1936 Olympics in Germany, again losing to Italy 2–1, despite having been beaten in the quarter-finals by Peru, following the Peruvians' withdrawal. However, according to an investigation, the surprise victory by Peru was deliberately annulled by Adolf Hitler to favour the Austrians. The team then qualified for the 1938 World Cup finals, but Austria was annexed to Germany in the Anschluss on 12 March of that year. On 28 March, FIFA was notified that the ÖFB had been abolished, resulting in the nation's withdrawal from the World Cup. Instead, the German team would represent the former Austrian territory. Theoretically, a united team could have been an even stronger force than each of the separate ones, but German coach Sepp Herberger had little time and very few matches to prepare and merge the very different styles of play and attitude.