Who will make the Austria World Cup 2022 squad if they qualify? The months are counting down to the World Cup, with the showcase tournament now less than eight months away.
Today, Austria boss Franco Foda hinted at what his 23-man squad might look like should his side reach the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Foda revealed the list of players tasked with getting them there by beating Wales play-off semi-final, with a decisive home game against Scotland or Ukraine awaiting the winner.
Austria World Cup 2022 squad: The squad for the play-off semi-final
- GK: Daniel Bachmann (Watford)
- GK: Heinz Lindner (Basel)
- GK: Patrick Pentz (Austria Wien)
- DF: David Alaba (Real Madrid)
- DF: Aleksander Dragovic (Crvena Zvezda)
- DF: Martin Hinteregger (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- DF: Stefan Lainer (Borussia Monchengladbach)
- DF: Stefan Posch (Hoffenheim)
- DF: Andreas Ulmer (RB Salzburg)
- DF: Kevin Danso (Lens)
- MF: Christoph Baumgartner (Hoffenheim)
- MF: Marco Grull (Rapid Wien)
- MF: Konrad Laimer (RB Leipzig)
- MF: Valentino Lazaro (Benfica)
- MF: Marcel Sabitzer (Bayern Munich)
- MF: Louis Schaub (Cologne)
- MF: Xaver Schlager (Wolfsburg)
- MF: Nicolas Seiwalk (RB Salzburg)
- MF: Schopf (Arminia Bielefield)
- FW: Marko Arnautovic (Bologna)
- FW: Michael Gregoritsch (Augsburg)
- FW: Sasa Kalajdzic (Stuttgart)
- FW: Andreas Weimann (Bristol City)
How many players would Austria be allowed to take to the 2022 World Cup?
National managers were allowed to bring 26 players to last summer’s European Championship, but that was a special measure brought in due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the World Cup in Qatar, unless things change, the maximum squad number will revert to 23.
This could still be adjusted in the coming months, though, given that five substitutions are now a fixed feature of club and international football, and the tournament will take place mid-season.
When would the final Austria 2022 World Cup squad be announced?
This year’s World Cup is the first to take place at the end of the year, running from 21 November-18 December, but Austria must get through two play-off games to get there.
Should they succeed, they will then have a full UEFA Nations League campaign to go through before the major tournament, as the Austrians face Croatia, Denmark and France home and away in June and September.
Those games would help Foda fine-tune his final squad, which would usually be announced around six weeks before the tournament starts.
This may change with club football being played closer to the start date of the tournament.
Who would make the final Austria 2022 World Cup squad?
Barring injuries or bans, there are a few players we would expect to make an Austria World Cup squad, should they qualify.
Real Madrid defender David Alaba is always the first name on the team sheet for his country, who he captains and has played for in a variety of positions.
Striker Marco Arnautovic, now at Bologna, was Austria’s top scorer in qualifying with five goals and is certain to be involved, while Bayern Munich midfielder Marcel Sabitzer and Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann are also nailed-on squad members.
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