Surprise in Austria
Rangnick nominates second division goalkeeper for national team
November 6, 2025 – 7:10 a.mReading time: 1 min.
Nicolas Kristof is once again having a strong season in Elversberg. His achievements have now been rewarded by Ralf Rangnick.
Austria’s national coach Ralf Rangnick has nominated his squad for the last two games in the World Cup qualification. There is a new name on the list: Nicolas Kristof.
The goalkeeper has been under contract with second division club SV Elversberg since 2021. Kristof is the regular keeper there and has already kept his goal clean five times this season. The 25-year-old is considered a top performer in coach Vincent Wagner’s team. Now he is part of the Austrian senior national team for the first time.
Kristof has already played for Austrian junior teams, but the last time was ten years ago. In 2015 he was between the posts three times for the Alpine Republic’s U16 team. Kristof was born in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg. However, his grandparents come from Carinthia, Austria.
The ÖFB team will face Cyprus away on November 15th. The final home game against Bosnia-Herzegovina is three days later. Austria is currently in first place in the table with 16 points, followed by Bosnia (13 points) and Romania (10).