Only the official confirmation was missing, now this too has arrived. The Austria national football team will start qualifying for the 2024 European Football Championship on 24 and 27 March in Linz. Both the home match against Azerbaijan on 24 March and the one three days later against Estonia will be played in the new Gugl stadium, which was inaugurated a month earlier on 24 February with LASK’s home match against Austria Lustenau.
As early as August, ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick indicated in the big OÖN interview that Linz could become an option. “We are completely open to saying once the draw has been made: against which opponent in which stadium do we have the best chance and the best possible atmosphere? And it is precisely on these criteria that we must assign the venues for home matches instead of saying: ‘We we play in the Prater because we have always played in the Prater”. It doesn’t help if we play in the Prater and only 15,000 spectators come. And the same 15,000 would come even if we played in a sold out stadium in Linz. There is a different atmosphere in the stadium And I can also imagine that people in the newly opened stadium in Linz will also be curious and say: “Great, the national team is playing in the new stadium! Let’s go to the games there!”
The new stadium in Linz will become an international arena in March 2023. Image: Photo: LASK
The last competitive match of the competition in Linz took place in 1981 against Finland, which Austria won 5-1. “The new Raiffeisen Arena is a very attractive option for international matches of our national team. The stadium meets the international requirements of the ÖFB for international matches and is also fully compliant with UEFA category 4. We are pleased to be able to offer fans a modern infrastructure in the football-loving central region of Upper Austria for the matches against Azerbaijan and Estonia,” said Bernhard Neuhold, Managing Director of ÖFB Wirtschaftsbetriebe GmbH, in a broadcast by the ÖFB. His thanks go to LASK and chairman Siegmund Gruber, who gave a feeling of welcome here, said Neuhold. “We are proud to welcome the national team to the Raiffeisen Arena Linz. We will offer the team the best possible support for these important matches on the road to EURO 2024 in Germany,” said Gruber.
