Austria 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Kalajdžić late winner seals promotion

Substitute Saša Kalajdžić scored the only goal as Austria beat the Republic of Ireland 1-0 at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz on Saturday, winning UEFA Nations League Group B3 with a game to spare and securing promotion to League A. UEFA's match centre records the winner in the 79th minute, with Ralf Rangnick's side still unbeaten in the group. More international reports are on BetAlert News.

Match facts

• Result: Austria 1-0 Republic of Ireland (half-time 0-0)
• Competition: UEFA Nations League B, Group B3, Matchday 5
• Date: Saturday 14 November 2026
• Venue: Raiffeisen Arena, Linz
• Scorers: Austria - Kalajdžić 79'
• Attendance: 16,700
• Referee: Irfan Peljto
• Next: Israel v Austria and Republic of Ireland v Kosovo, Tuesday 17 November

How the match unfolded

Austria started quickly. In the third minute Caoimhín Kelleher got down to turn Christoph Baumgartner's shot wide, and the Ireland goalkeeper also denied Christoph Lang in the 35th minute after a sharp counter-attack.

Ireland grew into the half through Jayson Molumby, Finn Azaz and Jack Moylan. Troy Parrott tested Alexander Schlager with an overhead kick that the Austria goalkeeper saved, and the sides went in level.

Rangnick sent on Kalajdžić for Lang on the hour. Baumgartner soon had two more chances, one saved by Kelleher and one dragged wide, before Ireland went close at the other end: Schlager parried a Parrott shot and Adam Idah lifted the rebound over the bar. Heimir Hallgrímsson then made a triple change, bringing on Chiedozie Ogbene, Harvey Vale and Jake O'Brien, and Kelleher needed a fingertip save to keep out a Michael Gregoritsch shot from a short set-piece.

The breakthrough came from a corner. Romano Schmid delivered from the left, Dara O'Shea's header carried the ball to the back post and Gregoritsch nodded it back across goal, where Kalajdžić stretched out a long leg to poke it over the line. Ogbene almost equalised three minutes from the end of normal time, but Schlager reacted quickly to save his close-range header.

What it means for both teams

Austria lead Group B3 on 11 points, five ahead of Kosovo, according to UEFA's official standings, and will finish top whatever happens in Tuesday's final round. Their last group game is away to Israel, who they beat 3-1 in Linz in their opening game in September (report).

Ireland are third on five points, one behind Kosovo, who were held 0-0 by Israel in Pristina earlier on Saturday (report). Ireland lost 1-0 in Pristina in September (report), so they need to beat Kosovo in Dublin on Tuesday to finish second and reach the League A/B play-offs.

"It was painful not to get anything from this match. I think we deserved at least a draw, but we needed the win for this game to count," Hallgrímsson told RTÉ. "That's the game at this level. You need to be switched on and focused every second of the game."

Rangnick pointed to the players Austria were missing. "When you consider everyone who was missing, you have to say hats off," he told ORF.

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