Superb! Austria U21 Ends EURO Qualifiers with Emphatic Victory

Austria's U21 national team celebrates a sensational 7-1 victory against Wales to conclude their European Championship qualifiers.

Before the match, there was still a theoretical chance of qualification. However, the ÖFB team would have had to make up nine goals in goal difference on Denmark. At the same time, a defeat for the Danes against Belgium would have been necessary.

The impossible very nearly became possible.

Weinhandl Puts Austria Ahead

The ÖFB team took the lead in just the third minute through Luca Weinhandl. The Sturm youngster drove the ball forward, Kojzek played a clever one-two, and Weinhandl finished to make it 1-0.

In the 17th minute, Hödl had a chance for the second goal after a Zabransky pass but was denied by the well-reacting Welsh goalkeeper.

Shortly after, Hödl did better: Following a pass from Bajlicz, he evaded his opponent and confidently slotted the ball home for 2-0 when one-on-one with the keeper (20').

Wales Pulls One Back

However, Wales managed to pull one back in the 30th minute with a rebound from Agius.

The ÖFB didn't give up and Puczka restored their two-goal lead. It was already the left-back's third goal in the EURO qualifiers (41').

After the break, the ÖFB team continued to push for more goals. Following a Puczka corner and a curious pinball situation in the penalty area, the ball fell to Adewumi, who scored to make it 4-1 (55').

Substitute Wurmbrand Strikes

Niki Wurmbrand added another shortly after, increasing the lead to 5-1 with a deflected shot (74').

In the 84th minute, Kojzek converted a penalty kick to make it 6-1, before Schuster scored from a corner just two minutes later to seal the 7-1 final score.

Thus, Austria narrowly missed out on the EURO finals. However, the emphatic victory would have been too little in the end anyway: Denmark drew 0-0 against Belgium and finished the qualifiers with one point more than the ÖFB U21 team.