Austria For a long time, the national soccer team stood for two things: anxious men and bitter bankruptcies. 1999: 0-9 against Spain. 2011: 2:6 against Germany. 2021: 2:5 against Israel. Austrian football has been a laughing stock for ages.

Then took over Ralf Rangnick. When he took office in the summer of 2022, he already had a reputation as a miracle worker – the 66-year-old German built the Red Bull football empire and coached the global club Manchester United. Rangnick doesn’t seem like an ordinary football coach, but rather like one of those US world innovators from Silicon Valley who promise eternal youth or human-like robots. “I would like to bring Austrian football to where it belongs,” said Rangnick, explaining his mission. The goal: to be at the top of the world. That sounded crazy at first.