Successful World Cup test despite being outnumbered
Bayern star flies – Austria celebrates thanks to Sabitzer
June 1, 2026 – 11:43 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
World Cup dress rehearsal was a success: a Bayern professional puts the Rangnick team outnumbered early on. Nevertheless, it is enough to win.
Ralf Rangnick and his Austrians are flying with the wind at their backs to the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada. Despite Konrad Laimer being sent off early, the ÖFB team succeeded in the dress rehearsal in Vienna with a 1-0 (0-0) win against Tunisia.
In equal numbers, the Rangnick team, which was classified as dangerous outsiders, had problems with the African World Cup participants, appeared vulnerable defensively and largely harmless offensively. After the change there was a significant increase in the number.
Dortmund’s Marcel Sabitzer became the match winner (63rd minute), exploiting a well-played counterattack on a pass from Mainz’ Stefan Posch. Sabitzer was also the winning goal scorer in the previous friendly win against South Korea at the end of March.
The Austrians were down to ten men from the 36th minute onwards after Bayern midfielder Konrad Laimer was the last man to see a red card following a handball. Ben Slimane’s free kick hit the crossbar. While the Tunisians had the better chances to score in the first half, the hosts were more dangerous after the break and hit the woodwork twice.
Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner injured his thigh while warming up and had to pass. Nevertheless, Austria started with eight Bundesliga professionals in the starting eleven, only goalkeeper Alexander Schlager had never played in the German elite league. For Tunisia, Union Berlin’s Khedira and Frankfurt’s Ellyes Shkiri formed the double six, with Augsburg’s Ismael Gharbi starting.
Vienna becomes a World Cup dress rehearsal
For the Austrians, the game in Vienna was unintentionally the dress rehearsal for the World Cup tournament. A final test against Guatemala was originally scheduled to take place on June 10th in Pasadena, California, but the Central Americans and the stadium operator canceled in mid-May – and an alternative opponent or venue could no longer be found. Tunisia, on the other hand, will face Belgium on Saturday (3 p.m.) in Brussels.
At the tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada, the North Africans will start against Sweden on June 15th, before preliminary round duels with Japan and the Netherlands follow. The Austrians enter the tournament two days later, their group opponents are Jordan, world champions Argentina and Algeria.
