Preview: Austria vs South Korea - prediction, team news, lineups

In the first-ever meeting between the two nations, South Korea will visit Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna for a friendly against Austria on Tuesday.

On Friday, the Austrians won handily 5-1 over Ghana, while the Tigers of Asia were hammered 4-0 by the Ivory Coast the following day.

Match preview

As they prepare for their first World Cup appearance this century, there is a lot of optimism surrounding Austria right now for good reason.

Defensively, they conceded just four goals throughout the qualification cycle and suffered only one defeat in eight matches to top Group H.

Ralf Rangnick’s group are unbeaten in their last nine internationals played in Vienna, with their previous defeat in the Austrian capital occuring in a Euro qualifier against Belgium in 2024 (3-2).

A win on Tuesday would mark the third time over the past four occasions that this team begin a calendar year with consecutive triumphs.

Not since a March 2019 defeat versus Israel (4-2) have we seen this team lose a match after scoring the opening goal.

Tuesday will mark the first time they face an Asian side since the 2007 Turnier de Kontinente, when they drew 0-0 with Japan in Austria, then won on penalties 4-3.

After a strong end to 2025, the South Koreans were knocked down a peg in their opening match of this year.

In that contest played in England, Hong Myung-Bo’s men conceded four more goals than they had in their previous three internationals combined.

On Tuesday, they will aim to avoid suffering consecutive defeats for the first time since March to June of 2023.

The men’s team have dropped points in two of their previous three games played outside South Korea, with their last win as the visitors coming in a friendly in New Jersey against the United States last September (2-0).

South Korea have gone on to win their last eight games when netting the opening goal, conceding none themselves over that stretch.

The Taegeuk Warriors will aim to beat a side from Europe this week for the first time since the 2022 World Cup, when they edged Portugal 2-1 in the group stage.

Austria International Friendlies form:

Austria form (all competitions):

South Korea International Friendlies form:

Team News

Austria could be missing Konrad Laimer on Tuesday with knee discomfort, Patrick Wimmer has a muscle strain and Raul Florucz is recovering from a muscle injury.

Marcel Sabitzer, Michael Gregoritsch, Stefan Posch, Carney Chukwuemeka and Nicolas Seiwald all scored against Ghana.

On the South Korean side, Lee Kang-in came off the bench on Saturday despite a sore foot and Jens Castrop was an unused sub for that same reason, while Hwang In-beom is dealing with an ankle problem.

Son Heung-min remains four behind Cha Bum-kun for first in all -time in goals with the national team, while the record cap holder is seeking his first international goal since November.

Austria possible starting lineup:

Wiegele; Mwene, Danso, Alaba, Wober; Seiwald, Wanner; Schmid, Baumgartner, Sabitzer; Arnautovic

South Korea possible starting lineup:

Hyeon-woo; Han-beom, Min-jae, Ju-sung; Moon-hwan, Jin-gyu, Seung-ho, Ji-sung; Jun-ho, Hee-chan; Heung-min

We say: Austria 2-0 South Korea

Austria look to be up to the task of competing against the big nations, and Rangnick has done a great job at keeping them sharp, and we trust their defensive structure will frustrate the Asians on Tuesday.

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