During the 1930s, under coach Hugo Meisl, Austria's national team, known as the "Wunderteam" (literally Wonder Squad"), became a dominant force in European football.

The Anschluss in 1938, which annexed Austria into Nazi Germany, led to the dissolution of the ÖFB and the forced integration of Austrian players into the German national team for the 1938 World Cup.

Max Scheuer, a Jewish defender who played for the Austria national football team in 1923, was subsequently killed during the Holocaust in Auschwitz concentration camp.

[3][4][5] The team enjoyed success in the 1930s under coach Hugo Meisl, becoming a dominant side in Europe and earning the nickname "Wunderteam".

Theoretically, a united team could have been an even stronger force than each of the separate ones, but German coach Sepp Herberger had little time and very few matches to prepare and merge the very different styles of play and attitude.

With Rapid Wien's forward Hans Pesser having been sent off, and not satisfied with two others, Herberger had to alter the line-up on six positions to fulfill the 6:5 quota again.

At the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the Austrian suffered defeats to eventual champions Brazil, the emerging Soviet Union and a draw against England (who were rebuilding after the loss of several of their key players due to the Munich air disaster), preventing the team from reaching the next round.

Due to budgetary problems and the increased cost to travel to South America rather than some European location, Austria took the unprecedented decision, though having qualified, not to participate in the 1962 World Cup in Chile on the one had, or attempt (public) fundraising campaigns on the other zand.. On 20 October 1965, Austria became the third European team to defeat England at home.

However, in the same year, Austria failed to qualify for the World Cup for the 1966 edition, ending third against Hungary and East Germany; they only earned a draw.

became famous in Austria, where it is considered the "Miracle of Cordoba", while the West Germans regard the game and the Austrian behaviour as a disgrace.

[7] Led by striker Toni Polster, Austria qualified for the 1990 World Cup but were eliminated in the first round, despite defeating the United States 2–1.

Much worse was the stunning 1–0 loss against the Faroe Islands, a team made of amateurs, in the qualifying campaign for the 1992 European Championship, considered [by whom?]

It was a sign for things to come, as Austria suffered another couple of years of botched qualifying campaigns, despite playing some entertaining football in the closing stages of UEFA Euro 1996 qualification.

They failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2000, and suffered embarrassment (similar to the Faroe Islands loss) when they lost 9–0 to Spain and 5–0 to Israel in 1999.

Many of their home supporters were in agreement and 10,000 Austrians signed a petition demanding Austria withdraw from the tournament to spare the nation's embarrassment.

Karel Brückner, who had resigned as head coach of the Czech Republic after that country's first round exit from Euro 2008, was soon named as his replacement.

A number of players from the 2007 U-20 team that finished fourth in the World Cup that year ended up developing and becoming full starters for the senior squad, including Sebastian Prödl, Markus Suttner, Martin Harnik, Veli Kavlak, Erwin Hoffer, Zlatko Junuzović and Rubin Okotie.

Austria was drawn into UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group G alongside Poland, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Israel, and Latvia.

Austria kicked off the opener with a 3–1 victory against North Macedonia, their first win at a European Championship and the first time scoring more than one goal in a group stage game.

In the final group stage match, Austria only needed a draw against Ukraine to advance as one of the best third-place teams while a win guaranteed second place.

They beat Ukraine 1–0 to secure their first knockout stages at the European Championship in second place in Group C, in addition to it being their first time advancing past the first round of a tournament since the 1982 World Cup.

They faced Italy in the round of 16 at Wembley Stadium and lost 2–1 after extra time with Saša Kalajdžić scoring their only goal of the game in the 114th minute.