Austria loses to Argentina and faces anxious wait for round of 16

As early as the 9th minute, Lionel Messi had missed a penalty after Stefan Posch had fouled Lautaro Martinez in the box. Nevertheless, the Argentinians struck in the 38th minute: Messi, who turns 39 on Wednesday – the same day as Austria's captain David Alaba – coolly took one of his few chances. "Er braucht nicht viele Situationen, um so ein Spiel zu entscheiden," analyzed Rangnick. Messi himself spoke of a "schwierigen, harten Spiel": "Wir haben gewusst, dass es nicht leicht wird. Es war eine sehr arbeitsintensive Partie, ein schwieriges, hartes Spiel." Austria's captain David Alaba was annoyed about the scene before the 0:1: "Nach drei Minuten kam er gegen Messi zu spät, was mitunter zur Elfmeter-Szene führte." Alaba was also not yet aware during Austria's first ball contact by Posch after about a minute.

Messi's performance and the controversial scenes

Afterward, Messi, who rose to become the sole record goal scorer in World Cup history with his two goals (18 goals), was praised by Rangnick in the highest terms: "Er ist der beste Spieler, den es jemals gegeben hat. Das hat er heute wieder eindrucksvoll unter Beweis gestellt." Xaver Schlager, who by his own account had been clearly fouled by Alexis Mac Allister before the 0:1 ("Er räumt mich komplett ab, ich war mit beiden Beinen in der Luft und fliege hin"), also criticized the lack of a video review by the VAR: "Am Feld hätte ich gesagt, dass es ein klares Foul war." Rangnick demanded: "Beim ersten Gegentor hätte ich mir gewünscht, dass der vierte Offizielle das gemacht hätte, was er beim Elfmeter gemacht hat. Nämlich den Schiedsrichter darauf hinzuweisen, sich die Szene davor anzusehen, dann hätte er ein klares Foulspiel an Xaver Schlager gesehen."

The second Argentinian goal came after a counterattack chance criticized by Rangnick, which Austria had initiated itself. "Hinten raus darf man so ein Tor einfach nicht kassieren, das war sehr, sehr dümmlich. Das war zu einfach," complained Marcel Sabitzer, who played his 100th international match. Xaver Schlager summed up the perception of many Austrians: "Wenn man Weltmeister ist, hat man sich das auch erarbeitet, dass der Schiedsrichter ein Quäntchen mehr auf deiner Seite ist." Austria had "phasenweise viel Spielkontrolle," said Rangnick, "nur hätte ich mir mehr Mut erwünscht, es auch einmal aus der zweiten Reihe zu versuchen so wie Romano Schmid gegen Jordanien". Sabitzer put it in a nutshell: "Grundsätzlich sind wir enttäuscht, wir sind hergekommen, um etwas mitzunehmen. 50:50-Aktionen sind leider oft in die andere Richtung gegangen, aber das ist halt so."

Player ratings: Schlager with a 1, Prass and Schmid with 3

In the individual player ratings, the Austrians mostly performed decently. As the only player, goalkeeper Alexander Schlager received a rating of 1 – the top mark. David Alaba, Kevin Danso, Konrad Laimer, Marco Friedl, Michael Gregoritsch, Nicolas Seiwald, Paul Wanner, Marcel Sabitzer, Stefan Posch and Xaver Schlager each received a rating of 2. Alexander Prass and Romano Schmid were rated 3. Patrick Wimmer and Carney Chukwuemeka were on the pitch too briefly to be rated. Posch, who played with a face mask, delivered a remarkable performance: "Von Verunsicherung aufgrund seiner Schiene im Gesicht war nichts zu spüren." The 20-year-old Paul Wanner, who started for the first time, "bewies seine freche Art" and "luchste Messi den Ball ab". Marko Arnautovic was brought on in the closing stages, "sollte in der letzten halben Stunde mit seiner Unberechenbarkeit wirken". Yellow cards were shown to Argentina's Medina and Paredes, and Austria's Posch and Laimer. The referee was Omar from Egypt.

Outlook: Decision against Algeria on Saturday

Due to the defeat, the situation in Group J becomes more uncomfortable from an Austrian perspective. A draw would have secured Austria in second place behind Argentina and also practically guaranteed Algeria's place in the round of the last 16. Now, Ralf Rangnick's team must hope for results from other groups. "Ein Remis wäre mir lieber gewesen, dann wären wir schon sicher weiter gewesen. So müssen wir schauen, wie die anderen Spiele ausgehen," said Rangnick. At the same time, Algeria had defeated Jordan 2:1, further intensifying the situation. Of the twelve third-placed teams, the best eight advance to the round of 16. Captain Alaba agonized over the result: "Hätten uns einen Punkt verdient".

On Thursday, the team travels on to Kansas City, where on Saturday (local time) the decisive third group game against Algeria awaits – two days after arrival. Until then, the Austrians can only work on improving their finishing and their courage to shoot from distance. The takeaway from the Argentina game: it was not hopeless inferiority – a lack of consistency and small details in defense cost the coveted point against the title holders. A win against Algeria would put the round of 16 within reach; anything else would leave the ÖFB team sweating.