When people talk about great European football rivalries, they usually focus on neighbours or former colonial powers. Yet Austria and France have served up a quieter, quirkier saga that stretches back 100 years, swinging from thumping upsets to carefully fought tactical battles. Their clashes chart the rise, fall, and rebirth of each nation’s football identity—from Austria’s legendary “Wunderteam” of the 1930s to France’s modern, star-laden sides. What follows is an easy-going walk through the key moments, told in plain language, with no specialist jargon to trip you up.

The first encounters (1925–1934)

• 19 April 1925, Paris – Austria 4-0 France
  France invited Austria to the Stade Général J. J. Pershing and were blown away. Hugo Meisl’s travelling artists passed the ball as if tied to a string, handing France an early lesson in quick, short play.
• 30 May 1926, Vienna – France 4-1 Austria
  A year later the French reversed the score in Simmeringer Sportplatz, showing they could learn and adapt.
• 27 May 1934, Turin – Austria 3-2 France (after extra-time)
  The pair crossed paths in the very first round of the 1934 World Cup. Played at the Stadio Benito Mussolini, the duel had everything: a raucous Italian crowd, political overtones, and a see-saw score-line that Austria shaded in extra-time. The Austrians advanced, living up to their pre-tournament billing, while France headed home early.

That 1934 thriller set the tone: when these sides collide, expect drama.

Stop-start years (1945–1959)

War wiped international football off the calendar, but the relationship resumed as early as 6 December 1945 in Vienna, Austria easing to a 4-1 friendly win that helped a battered city rediscover a bit of joy. Just five months later France swung the pendulum back with a 3-1 victory in Colombes. The rest of the 1950s followed a pattern of trading blows—no long winning streaks, but every game producing goals: 2-2 in 1951, a 5-2 French romp in 1959, and never a 0-0 draw in sight.

One-offs and near misses (1960–1970)

The Sixties were relatively quiet—a pair of European Nations’ Cup qualifiers in 1960 saw France squeeze through 9-4 on aggregate, despite losing the Vienna leg 4-2. After that, meetings were occasional friendlies, the most notable being Austria’s 1-0 home success in 1970, secured by a Reinhold Hintermaier strike that beat Georges Carnus from the edge of the box. These isolated contests kept the ledger tight without sparking a long-running feud.

Spain ’82: world-stage tension

The sides landed in the same second-round group at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. On 28 June 1982 in Madrid, France edged Austria 1-0 through Bernard Genghini’s whipped free-kick. Michel Platini and Alain Giresse monopolised possession while Austria struggled to find space; the slim score was enough to push France toward their first semi-final since 1958. Austria’s campaign, meanwhile, fizzled out—overshadowed in their own press by the notorious “Shame of Gijón” episode against West Germany a few days earlier.

Changing fortunes in the 1990s

France missed USA ’94 but had to navigate Austria in qualifying. They won 2-0 in Paris (October 1992) and 1-0 in Vienna (March 1993), goals coming from Jean-Pierre Papin and Didier Deschamps. The wins felt routine, yet France still imploded later in the group, losing back-to-back games against Israel and Bulgaria and missing the finals. Austria, for their part, failed to capitalise and also stayed home that summer.

A roller-coaster late 2000s

• 28 March 2007, Saint-Denis – France 1-0 Austria
  A low-key friendly settled by Nicolas Anelka looked like a footnote at the time.
• 6 September 2008, Vienna – Austria 3-1 France
  Everything changed in the first game of 2010 World Cup qualifying. Goals from Martin Harnik, Marc Janko and Christian Fuchs stunned Raymond Domenech’s side, who were jeered off the pitch. The defeat ignited a French media frenzy that never really calmed down until after South Africa 2010.
• 14 October 2009, Saint-Denis – France 3-1 Austria
  France got revenge, Karim Benzema and Thierry Henry doing the damage. Les Bleus finished second in the group and scraped through a play-off, while Austria’s campaign petered out.

These three fixtures illustrate how fast momentum can swing: one autumn evening Austria were hailed as giant-killers; thirteen months later France restored the usual order.

Nations League spice (2022)

The newly minted UEFA Nations League threw them together again.

• 10 June 2022, Vienna – 1-1 draw
  Andreas Weimann’s opener was cancelled by Kylian Mbappé’s late burst off the bench.
• 22 September 2022, Saint-Denis – France 2-0 Austria
  Mbappé and Olivier Giroud secured France’s first top-tier Nations League home win of that cycle. The second goal, a looping Giroud header, made him France’s oldest scorer at 35.

While neither match was a classic, they offered a preview of players who would headline Euro 2024.

Euro 2024: Düsseldorf drama

Group D kicked off on 17 June 2024 with Austria and France under the lights in Düsseldorf. Ralf Rangnick’s side pressed energetically, and Marcel Sabitzer struck the outside of the post early. But on 38 minutes, France forced an own goal from Maximilian Wöber after Kylian Mbappé’s dart inside. N’Golo Kanté—back in the national set-up after two years away—hoovered up space, and France held on 1-0 despite Mbappé breaking his nose late on. The win proved crucial: France topped the group, Austria squeezed through in second after beating Poland and holding the Netherlands.

The numbers at a glance

• Total official games: 26
• France wins: 14
• Austria wins: 9
• Draws: 3
• Goals for France: 43
• Goals for Austria: 41

The raw stats confirm how evenly matched they have been across a century.

Playing styles through the decades

Era	Austria’s trademark	France’s trademark	Typical contest
1930s	Short, quick passing under Hugo Meisl	Athletic wing play	High-scoring thrillers
1950s	Direct balls to centre-forward	Counter-attacks led by Raymond Kopa	Open friendlies
1980s	Compact 3-5-2 press	Platini’s midfield trio	Midfield chess matches
2000s	Physical but transitional	Individual brilliance (Zidane, Henry)	Swing games decided by errors
2020s	Rangnick’s high press	Pace and depth on the flanks	Tight, tactical, one-goal margins

(This table is a friendly snapshot, not an exhaustive tactical thesis.)

What keeps the rivalry fresh?

1. Balanced history – Neither side dominates outright; every generation feels it can tip the scale.
2. Tournament crossroads – Three World Cups (1934, 1982) and a European Championship (2024) have thrown them into high-stakes settings.
3. Contrast in football culture – Austria’s periods of under-dog grit up against France’s conveyor belt of superstar talent makes for unpredictable outcomes.

Looking Ahead

The draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers could easily group them again, and both federations are in flux. Austria are blending young Bundesliga exports with veterans such as Marko Arnautović, while France’s next wave—Eduardo Camavinga, Warren Zaïre-Emery—promises yet more speed and skill. If the past century is any guide, the next clash will be tight, dramatic and, above all, entertaining.

Quick recap timeline

• 1925 – First fixture, Austria win 4-0 in Paris.
• 1934 – Austria shade a World Cup classic 3-2 in Turin.
• 1982 – France win a World Cup group game 1-0 in Madrid.
• 2008 – Shock 3-1 Austrian victory starts 2010 qualifying.
• 2009 – France hit back 3-1 on home soil.
• 2022 – Nations League series ends 1-1 and 2-0 to France.
• 2024 – France edge Euro group opener 1-0 in Düsseldorf.

The beauty of this rivalry is that no one can safely predict what the scoreboard will say next time. That uncertainty is exactly why neutral fans tune in—and why both sets of supporters circle the date in their diary the moment the fixture list drops.