Sitting just ahead of Ukraine in the world rankings at number 23, Austria are co-favorites with Ukraine to finish in second place in what will be only their third-ever appearance in the Euros. Their previous two appearances in 2008 and 2016 saw them exit in the group stage, so they’ll be looking to finish at least second and advance automatically to the knockout rounds. Austria’s most recent contest came in the form of a 4-0 loss to Denmark on match day three of the World Cup Qualifiers, which puts them at 1-1-1 after a 2-2 draw with Scotland and a 3-1 win over Faroe Islands.

David Alaba struggled at the heart of the Bayern Munich defense in 2020-2021, perhaps that was due to the uncertainty of his future in Bavaria. Because in the previous season, Alaba was arguably the Bundesliga’s best central defender when looking at his consistency throughout the 2019-2020 season.

This is just their third European Championship appearance in for Austria. Previously Austria have managed to pass the qualification round of the competition in 2008 and 2012. However they have yet to advance beyond the group stage.