By Sahil Pandey
New Delhi [India], June 30 (ANI): Austrian Ambassador to India Robert Zischg hailed Austria’s qualification for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 28 years as a remarkable achievement and expressed confidence in the team’s chances of progressing all the way to the final of the ongoing 2026 tournament. He also praised the impressive performances of underdog nations, highlighting how they have challenged and, in some cases, outperformed traditionally stronger teams in the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Austria booked their place in the FIFA World Cup Round of 32 after finishing second in Group J, behind only defending champions Argentina. They opened their campaign with a 3-1 victory over Jordan, suffered a 2-0 defeat to Argentina, and concluded the group stage with a 3-3 draw against Algeria. They will face Spain in their Round of 32 clash on July 2 (local time).
Speaking to ANI, Robert Zischg described Austria’s qualification for the FIFA World Cup after a 28-year gap as a major achievement, highlighting the difficulty of reaching the tournament. He recalled Austria’s dramatic 3-3 draw against Algeria, with a stoppage-time equaliser securing their place in the Round of 32.
While acknowledging the tough challenge posed by reigning European champions Spain in the knockout stage, Zischg said recent upsets, involving Paraguay knocking Germany out and the Netherlands being eliminated after a loss to Morocco, showed that anything is possible, expressing optimism about Austria’s chances of progressing further in the tournament.
“We have qualified after 28 years for the first time for the World Championship–which is already an achievement in itself because nowadays it’s really very difficult to qualify. We have, with a sort of luck… our third game was 3-3 and the last two goals, by Algeria and then finally Austria shot then, in the 93rd and the 96th minute. So we were out at least for three minutes, which was quite a shock, and everybody’s now in Austria up in the skies that we finally scored the 3- 3 in the last minutes. So we now managed to get to the round of 32. So our expectations have already been met, so we’re now in that knockout phase,” he said.
“Now our next partner, so to say, will be Spain–the reigning European champion–which will be a very difficult game. But you know, seeing the result a little bit of last night’s game where Germany was thrown out by Paraguay and Morocco also succeeded against the Netherlands in the penalties, everything is possible. So of course I am optimistic that we… we get further to… towards the final,” he added.
Zischg said one of the good things to watch is that smaller nations can compete on equal terms with traditional powerhouses. Citing the impressive performances of Paraguay, Morocco and also Cape Verde at the World Cup, he noted that underdog teams have consistently punched above their weight, making the tournament more competitive and exciting.
Notably, Cape Verde have also advanced to the knockout stage in their FIFA World Cup debut after drawing all three of their Group H matches, including an impressive stalemate against Spain.
“And the good thing about football is that the big and the smaller powers… the small countries, and we’ve seen it now with the world championships, they punch much above their weight. Not only now with Paraguay and Morocco moving forward to the round of 16, we have seen Cape Verde doing an extremely good job. So the smaller nations also have a good chance, and can stand up so as to be on an equal footing also in football. And this makes it so interesting,” he said.
Zischg also expressed optimism about the future of Indian football, saying the sport has significant growth potential in the country. While acknowledging that football is not yet as popular in India, he said he hopes the nation will one day qualify for the FIFA World Cup, adding that India’s participation would enrich the global football landscape and be a welcome addition to the tournament.
“Of course it’s not so popular yet, but I also see quite a lot of potential, that also one day, I don’t know when… India will then qualify and also be part of one of the next World Championships. I think that would be again broadening the sports world and it would be a very interesting contribution, you know. So as we march along, hopefully we will see India also participating in one of the next World Championships,” he said. (ANI)
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