Sports Mole previews Saturday’s World Cup Qualifying – Europe clash between Cyprus and Austria, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Austria continue their pursuit of a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup with a trip to Limassol to face already eliminated Cyprus at the Alphamega Stadium on Saturday.
The visitors have not featured at the global tournament this century, and a win here could be enough to end that wait if results elsewhere go their way.
Match preview
Austria’s push for direct qualification suffered a setback last time out as Ralf Rangnick’s men fell to a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat away to Romania in their second outing of October.
A stoppage-time strike from Virgil-Eugen Ghita condemned Das Team to their first loss of the campaign, preventing them from extending their lead at the summit.
Currently two points clear at the top of Group H with 15 points from six games, victory on Saturday would at least secure Austria a playoff place, while a favourable result elsewhere could confirm a direct ticket with a match to spare.
A win, coupled with a Bosnia & Herzegovina slip-up against Romania, would seal automatic qualification for Rangnick’s side, though anything less would set up a decisive final-day clash in Vienna on November 18, when the top two meet head-to-head.
Looking to take care of their own business first, Austria have history on their side, having beaten Cyprus in all seven previous competitive meetings.
It took a Marcel Sabitzer penalty to separate the sides in the reverse fixture in Vienna, so Cyprus have reason to believe they can give their fans something to cheer in Limassol, even if their qualification hopes have long ended.
Akis Mantzios’s men sit fourth in Group H with eight points from seven games (W2, D2, L3), five adrift of second place with just one match left, while securing a playoff spot through their Nations League ranking is also out of reach.
Cyprus’ two victories, along with six of their 11 goals in the qualifying campaign, came against the group’s bottom side, San Marino, including a 4-0 win last time out which ended a six-game winless streak (D3, L3).
That result helped them climb three places to 125th in the FIFA World Ranking, and Mantzios’s men now welcome their 24th-ranked visitors with confidence, having gone unbeaten in four home matches (W2, D2).
Cyprus World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
Cyprus form (all competitions):
Austria World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
Team News
Cyprus will be without key players due to suspension, with Kostas Pileas and Konstantinos Laifis both serving bans for accumulated yellow cards, so Anderson Correia and Nikolas Panagiotou are likely to deputise at left-back and centre-back, respectively.
Top scorer Ioannis Pittas also misses out for the same reason, leaving Andronikos Kakoullis as the most likely to lead the line, though veteran Pieros Sotiriou remains an option.
Austria will also be forced into changes, as Real Madrid defender David Alaba and left-back Phillipp Mwene serve suspensions for bookings.
This means Tottenham Hotspur’s Kevin Danso is expected to slot in at centre-back, while Alexander Prass could feature on the left side of defence.
Experienced forward Marko Arnautovic, who is Austria’s top scorer in qualifying with six goals, is in line to return to the starting XI, potentially at the expense of Michael Gregoritsch.
Cyprus possible starting lineup:
Mall; Siikkis, Andreou, Panagiotou, Correia; Kastanos, C Charalampous, Artymatas; Tzionis, Loizou; Kakoullis
Austria possible starting lineup:
Schlager; Prass, Danso, Lienhart, Posch; Laimer, Seiwald; Sabitzer, Baumgartner, Schmid; Arnautovic
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We say: Cyprus 1-2 Austria
Austria were made to work for victory in the reverse fixture, and Thursday’s contest may prove another testing affair, though the visitors should still have enough quality to find a way through.
Meanwhile, Cyprus have been strong at home and have found the net in each of their last four games on their turf, so they are expected to offer some attacking threat of their own.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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