After a first match at the 1912 Olympics, a quarterfinal in which legendary Dutch 'keeper Just Göbel single-handedly defended a 3-1 half-time lead, football developed rather differently in Austria and the Netherlands. While the Netherlands would remain staunchly amateur until the mid-fifties, Austria were among the first European countries to embrace professional football, in the mid-twenties, and henceforth were in a different class altogether. Apart from a single friendly in Amsterdam against the fairly uninspired Wunderteam around Matthias Sindelar, there would be no more encounters until the qualifying tournament for the 1958 World Cup.
By that time, the Dutch had finally introduced professionalism, and with Faas Wilkes back in the team after a successful professional career in Spain and Italy, the Dutch team took a surprise 2-0 half-time lead in the first encounter in Vienna. Only with great effort, hard play and the help of the German referee who offered the Austrians a controversial late penalty, the favourites around Hanappi managed a 3-2 home win. Before the return four months later, tempers were running high in the Netherlands, but with Happel back in the team, Austria calmly held out for a 1-1 draw, the required result for making the 1958 World Cup, in spite of the gouden binnentrio making a rare joint appearance in the Dutch team.
The next competitive encounter was more than two decades later and came at the second (quarterfinal) group stage of the 1978 World Cup. The Austrians had surprisingly and impressively topped their first round group, ahead of Brazil, Spain and Sweden, while the Dutch team had stumbled to second place behind Peru in Mendoza, pipping a rather poor Scotland team on goal difference. But as Dutch coach Ernst Happel introduced some new faces to the team, dropping the injured Rijsbergen and the disappointing Suurbier and introducing fresher legs in Brandts and Wildschut, Happel's countrymen around Krankl and Prohaska never knew what hit them. One week later, and at the same venue, the same side would celebrate Austria's last legendary win, das Wunder von Córdoba, albeit in a dead rubber.
Among the matches played since then, two deserve a special mention: the 1992 friendly in Sittard, the first time the Netherlands beat Austria while playing at home, in which Dutch-born Frenkie Schinkels scored his only ever goal for Austria (he would collect six caps for his adopted country), and the 2008 friendly in Vienna, a goalkeeping comedy, in which Austria took a 3-0 lead before collapsing. It was the first and so far only time the Netherlands overturned a 3-goal deficit to win. Partly thanks to that effort, the Netherlands won seven consecutive matches against Austria in a period spanning three decades before losing to them for the first time at a neutral venue at the 2024 European Championships.
All matches listed are friendlies unless otherwise stated.
Game Date Venue Result Remark 1. 30- 6-1912 Stockholm Netherlands 3-1 Austria [Olympic Games] 2. 10-12-1933 Amsterdam Netherlands 0-1 Austria 3. 26- 5-1957 Wien Austria 3-2 Netherlands [World Cup Qualifier] 4. 25- 9-1957 Amsterdam Netherlands 1-1 Austria [World Cup Qualifier] 5. 12- 4-1964 Amsterdam Netherlands 1-1 Austria 6. 18- 9-1966 Wien Austria 2-1 Netherlands 7. 28- 3-1973 Wien Austria 1-0 Netherlands 8. 27- 3-1974 Rotterdam Netherlands 1-1 Austria 9. 20- 5-1978 Wien Austria 0-1 Netherlands 10. 14- 6-1978 Córdoba Netherlands 5-1 Austria [World Cup] 11. 14-11-1984 Wien Austria 1-0 Netherlands [World Cup Qualifier] 12. 1- 5-1985 Rotterdam Netherlands 1-1 Austria [World Cup Qualifier] 13. 30- 5-1990 Wien Austria 3-2 Netherlands 14. 27- 5-1992 Sittard Netherlands 3-2 Austria 15. 16-10-2002 Wien Austria 0-3 Netherlands [European Champ. Qual.] 16. 6- 9-2003 Rotterdam Netherlands 3-1 Austria [European Champ. Qual.] 17. 26- 3-2008 Wien Austria 3-4 Netherlands 18. 9- 2-2011 Eindhoven Netherlands 3-1 Austria 19. 4- 6-2016 Wien Austria 0-2 Netherlands 20. 17- 6-2021 Amsterdam Netherlands 2-0 Austria [European Championship] 21. 25- 6-2024 Berlin Netherlands 2-3 Austria [European Championship]
Total record:
Austria 21 7 4 10 27- 40 18
Netherlands 21 10 4 7 40- 27 24
Some more stats:
Pd A D N AG- NG
In Austria: 9 5 0 4 13- 15
In the Netherlands: 9 1 4 4 9- 15
Elsewhere: 3 1 0 2 5- 10
Austria - List of International Matches
Netherlands - List of International Matches
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 25 Jun 2024
(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2010/24
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