Wednesday, June 11

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Sports Mole previews Tuesday's World Cup Qualifying - Europe clash between San Marino and Austria, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Austria will continue their 2026 World Cup qualifying bid when they travel to Serravalle for Tuesday’s meeting with San Marino.

The visitors beat Romania in their opening qualifier, while San Marino have already lost three consecutive matches in their qualifying campaign.

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Match preview

As FIFA’s lowest-ranked side, San Marino knew they would have their cut out to compete in World Cup qualifying, even if they came into the campaign in a confident mood following their success in the Nations League.

San Marino won two, drew one and lost one of their four Nations League matches to win promotion to League C for the very first time. 

However, the step up in quality in World Cup qualifying has resulted in a drop-off in results, having lost each of their opening three qualifiers against Cyprus, Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

They did at least produce a valiant effort to keep Bosnia at bay for 66 minutes in Saturday’s away fixture, although Edin Dzeko’s strike ultimately proved enough to condemn the minnows to a 1-0 defeat.

As a result of that narrow loss, San Marino are still searching for their first World Cup qualifying point since drawing with Latvia in June 2001.

Austria experienced disappointment in the March international window after they fell short in their bid to win promotion in the 2024-25 Nations League.

Ralf Rangnick’s side were beaten 3-1 in their two-legged playoff tie against Serbia, denying them immediate return to League A.

Austria have put that result behind them to focus on their quest to end their long wait for a World Cup appearance, with Das Team looking to reach the finals for the first time since featuring at the 1998 tournament in France. 

They got their qualifying campaign off to the perfect start in Saturday’s home clash against Romania, claiming a narrow 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Michael Gregoritsch and Marcel Sabitzer.

Austria will expect to pick up three more points in their third meeting with San Marino, after previously recording a 4-1 win in October 1998 and an emphatic 7-0 victory in April 1999 in their qualification bid for Euro 2000. 

San Marino World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

San Marino form (all competitions):

Austria World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

Austria form (all competitions):

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Team News

San Marino midfielder Matteo Valli Casadei is pushing for a starting spot after featuring as a half-time subsitute against Bosnia.

In defence, Roberto Cevoli is likely to keep faith with a back four of Filippo Fabbri, Michele Cevoli, Tommaso Benvenuti and Alberto Riccardi. 

Nicola Nanni should be given the task of leading the San Marino line, with the striker dreaming of adding to his three-goal international tally. 

Meanwhile, Austria are unable to call upon their captain David Alaba, who is recovering from a meniscus injury he sustained in April.

Feyenoord's Gernot Trauner is available for selection after he served his one-match ban for the red card he received in March's UEFA Nations League playoff against Serbia.

Trauner may have to settle for a place among the substitutes, with Ragnick likely to stick with the same team that started the win over Romania.

San Marino possible starting lineup:

Colombo; Fabbri, Cevoli, Benvenuti, Riccardi; Contadini, Golinucci, Casadei, Zannoni, Lazzari; Nanni

Austria possible starting lineup:

Pentz; Wimmer, Wober, Lienhart, Mwene; Laimer, Seiwald; Schmid, Baumgartner, Sabitzer; Gregoritsch

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We say: San Marino 0-4 Austria

 

San Marino showed great fight to frustrate Bosnia for a large proportion of Sunday's qualifier, but we think they may struggle to compete with an Austrian side that are ranked in 22nd place in the world, which is why we believe the visitors should ease to a comfortable victory in Tuesday's contest. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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