Austria has qualified for the World Cup in 2026 for the first time since 1998 and is led by Ralf Rangnick, one of the most innovative coaches of our time. The 2024 European Championship was impressive proof of this: Austria won a tough group that included France, the Netherlands, and Poland. In 2026, the team aims to carry this momentum to the World Cup stage. Group J, featuring defending champion Argentina, is a massive challenge—but Austria didn’t come here just to make up the numbers.

Head coach Ralf Rangnick named three goalkeepers to the Austrian national team: Alexander Schlager, Patrick Pentz, and Florian Wiegele. Austria is competing in the World Cup for the first time since 1998—a historic moment for Austrian soccer, 28 years after its last appearance.

Schlager, 30 years old and born in Salzburg, has been the undisputed starting goalkeeper for the Austrian national team for years. It was a long road to get there: After years as a loan player and goalkeeper for Floridsdorfer AC and FAC Vienna, he established himself at LASK between 2017 and 2023 as one of the most consistent goalkeepers in the Austrian Bundesliga—with appearances in the Europa League and as captain of the Linz-based club. Since the summer of 2023, he has been back at Red Bull Salzburg, where his career once began, on a contract through 2027. With the Austrian national team, he has 24 international caps, started every match in the World Cup qualifiers, and is Rangnick’s clear first choice. A wrist injury recently sidelined him for several weeks—but he was back in training and fit in time for the World Cup squad announcement.

Schlager embodies what Rangnick’s system needs: active participation in build-up play, composure under pressure, and leadership qualities. Austria faces Argentina, Algeria, and Jordan in Group J—and Schlager will have to be the foundation in goal.

Pentz, 29 years old and also born in Salzburg, is the son of Werner Pentz, the long-time goalkeeper coach for the Austrian U17 team. His career took him from FK Austria Wien to Stade de Reims and Bayer 04 Leverkusen—where he didn’t play a single competitive match behind Lukáš Hrádecký—to Brøndby IF in the Danish Superliga, where he was initially signed on loan in August 2023 and then signed permanently in the summer of 2024. He has been the starting goalkeeper for the Danes this season. With 17 international appearances, he brings nearly as much international experience as Schlager and was part of the Austrian squad at EURO 2024 in Germany, where he experienced the magical evening match against Poland. As the clear number two, he is Rangnick’s most reliable backup.

Wiegele, a 25-year-old from Graz, stands at 6 feet 9 inches, making him the tallest goalkeeper ever to wear an ÖFB jersey—towering even over Stefan Maierhofer and Saša Kalajdzić. His rise to prominence took a completely unconventional path: the Landesliga with Lebring, the Regionalliga with Gleisdorf, his second-division debut with DSV Leoben, and then the move to the Czech first-division club Viktoria Plzeň. There, starting in November 2025, he pushed the previous starting goalkeeper out of the starting lineup and established himself as the number one—making appearances in the Europa League against FC Porto and SC Freiburg, among others. In March 2026, he made his debut for Schlager in the second half of a 5-1 victory over Ghana and made a confident impression. Rangnick praised his “exciting profile”—referring primarily to his height, his presence on set pieces, and his solid soccer skills. Wiegele extended his contract in Pilsen in April 2026 through 2029.