Austria vs Cyprus Prediction for 7 September 2025 - Football

🔊 Can Austria claim the top spot in Group H of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers? A victory over Cyprus at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz would suffice. This win would see them draw level on points with Bosnia and Herzegovina, surpassing them on goal difference. For the visitors, dropping points in this upcoming clash could prove fatal in their quest for a top-two finish in the group. Regardless, Austria are clear favorites for this encounter. Any outcome other than a home win would be a major upset. Nonetheless, we will consider various scenarios to provide an insightful prediction.

Head-to-Head

📊 Over the past 26 years, these opponents have not played a single official match against each other.

Austria Team Overview

🔴 In the last Nations League campaign, Austria competed in Division B. They managed just one point from their first two matches, but a streak of three victories put them in a strong position to top the group. However, a surprising draw against Slovenia (1-1) led Ralf Rangnick's squad to the playoffs against Serbia, where they fell short (1-1, 0-2). As a result, Austria missed out on the chance to play in Division A next time around.

⚪️ In the current qualifying cycle, Austria kicked off with a home game against Romania—their main rival for a World Cup spot. The hosts held a solid advantage but faltered late, conceding in stoppage time. Nevertheless, they secured three points, as they did in their clash with San Marino (4-0). As it stands, Austria trails only Bosnia and Herzegovina, who have also maintained a perfect record but have played one more match.

Cyprus Team Overview

⚪️ Cyprus are performing at their expected level, defeating the minnows and occasionally challenging Europe's mid-tier teams. In the last Nations League campaign, they managed to beat Lithuania both home and away. This helped them maintain their place in League C, followed by a change in management.

🟡 Apostolos Mantzios might bring some progress to the national team. He took charge ahead of the current qualifying cycle and started with a 2-0 victory over San Marino. If it weren't for the opponent's goalkeeper making nine saves, the scoreline could have been more decisive. Cyprus played an impressive first half against Bosnia and Herzegovina, ending that segment in a draw while holding some advantage in play. However, they lacked any counter-attacking threat after the break, resulting in a 2-1 defeat. In June, Mantzios' side held their own against Bulgaria in a friendly (2-2) but couldn't match up to Romania in the qualifiers (0-2).

Latest news

Austria

🎙 Austria's defender Stefan Posch, who recently made the move from Bologna to Como, shared his thoughts on the team's upcoming fixtures: "Of course, we understand how crucial every match is in the qualifying cycle. Three points are at stake on Saturday and Tuesday. We need to aim for the best possible outcome. If we want to reach the World Cup, we must win these matches. That's our goal. On Saturday, we face our first challenge against Cyprus."

❌ David Alaba has returned to the Austrian squad after being sidelined due to injury during the June training camp. However, he has yet to make an appearance for Real Madrid this season. The absence of Maximilian Wöber and Gernot Trauner only exacerbates the defensive issues. Additionally, Marco Friedl will miss out due to injury.

Cyprus

🎙 Cyprus national team head coach Apostolos Manzios shared his thoughts on how the team can achieve success in their upcoming matches: "This is exactly what we aim to do in both games: maintain consistency, believe in ourselves, play good football, and the results will follow. As we've seen in recent matches, we've been close to victory, but the details didn't go our way. If we continue in this manner, the results won't be far off."

❌ Cyprus faces no squad losses. However, their lineup has been bolstered by the naturalization of 37-year-old goalkeeper Fabiano. Nevertheless, it's unlikely that he will significantly strengthen the team.

🟨 Referee and Yellow Cards

🟨 Referee and Yellow Cards

The main referee for the match is Jakob Kehlet from Denmark. This season, he has officiated three league matches, averaging 4.33 yellow cards per game. Historically, Kehlet's average has been slightly over three yellows per match. It's worth noting that Kehlet hasn't officiated international games in a while.

Over the past year, Cyprus has had the upper hand in yellow cards (3 against 1.4). Their opponents tend to receive warnings less frequently, averaging 1.3 per match. In this scenario, it makes sense to bet on the visitors winning the yellow card count.

⚽️ Goal Prediction

Austria have conceded in 18 of their last 20 matches. We've highlighted their significant defensive absences, which boosts Cyprus's chances of scoring. Under their new coach, Austria failed to score only against Romania, even though they created at least one clear chance. Given this context, a bet on Cyprus to score looks quite profitable.

🚩 Corner Prediction

Looking at the stats from the past year, Cyprus holds a slight edge in corners (4.9 against 4.8). They might struggle to reach that mark in Linz. However, they managed seven corners against Bosnia and Herzegovina and three against Romania—both away fixtures. Notably, Cyprus have achieved at least three corners in 7 of their last 8 away matches. Therefore, it's worth considering a bet on over 3.5 corners for the visitors.

While Cyprus might threaten with counterattacks and possibly score, Austria are clear favorites and are unlikely to drop points in the upcoming clash. The visitors have not lost by more than two goals in this campaign, so a potential scoreline of 3-1 seems reasonable.

Cyprus have been performing decently in the tournament, giving them a solid chance to avoid a heavy defeat. They have not lost by more than three goals in their last seven matches, so a key bet here would be the visitors to win with a (+3) handicap.