Austria

Austria appointed manager Ralf Rangnick in 2022 after failing to qualify for Qatar, and if you're at all familiar with Ralf Rangnick, you can just skip this entire write-up because you already know how the team will play (only half joking, please read on). The overlap between this group of players and Rangnick's philosophical school is significant - by our count, over half of this squad have played for a club directly under Rangnick's supervision (Hoffenheim or Red Bulls Salzburg & Leipzig), or elsewhere for a manager that came up through a Rangnick club. The core principles are well-known: positions are just guidelines; press intensely and often, win the ball high up the pitch, transition, counter, score, repeat.

Unfortunately, Austria will be without the player who ties everything together, as Christoph Baumgartner has had to withdraw from the squad after suffering a thigh injury in training. Austria have only one remaining friendly, on the opening day of the tournament no less, so there's little clarity as to how Baumgartner will be replaced. Marcel Sabitzer may have been able to step in in the past, but he is past his physical peak. Paul Wanner and Carney Chukwuemeka are perhaps the closest like-for-like replacements. Saša Kalajdžić also looked decent in the role against Tunisia, but he may be better served as depth for a striker group of Marko Arnautović and Michael Gregoritsch that is looking less mobile by the day.