Cymru end U21 EURO qualifying campaign with defeat to Austria

Cymru 1-7 Austria

• UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
• The Oval, Caernarfon
• Tuesday, 6 October 2026

Austria produced a dominant performance in Caernarfon to bring the U21 EURO qualifying campaign to a close with a resounding 7-1 victory over Cymru. 

Cymru were without both central defenders from the 1-0 defeat against Belgium as suspensions ruled Dan Cox and George Nevett out of this final Group I match, with Joel Cotterill and Reece Munro replacing them in the starting line-up.

Gabriele Biancheri and Chris Popov were on target for Cymru in the 2-0 win against Austria when the two sides met in Linz last year, and it was Biancheri who would from the front this evening as Cymru looked to end the campaign on a high.

Austria head coach Peter Perchtold also made two changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Denmark in Vienna on Friday, with Oluwaseun Adewumi and Erik Kojzek coming into their starting line-up. From the kick-off, the towering Kojzek showed his intention to cause problems for the Cymru defence.

Within three minutes of the match, Austria were ahead as Luca Weinhandl fired the ball past Joe Duncan from close-range. The towering presence of Kojzek proved to be a cause for concern in the Cymru defence, but it was Jacob Hödl who doubled the lead for the visitors on 20 minutes following a great ball from Nico Bajlicz.

Only a fine save from Duncan prevented Hödl from adding a third minutes later, but Cymru regrouped despite being under constant pressure on reduced the deficit on 30 minutes. A shot from Tanatswa Nyakuhwa was saved by goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth, but he could only parry the ball into the path of Callum Agius who made no mistake.

However, Austria would restore their two-goal advantage just before half-time as David Puczka rounded Duncan and passed the ball into the empty net, with Cymru having an uphill task to finish the campaign with a positive result.

The 2nd half started with the same pace as Agius tested Jungwirth, and at the other end, Hödl could only fire his effort wide of Duncan’s post. On 56 minutes, the pressure from Austria delivered a fourth goal as Adewumi capitalised on loose ball following a scramble in the Cymru area that had also seen Puczka hit the post.

Cymru showed great character despite conceding again, with Biancheri, substitute Oliver Bostock and Charlie Crew all testing Jungwirth with a series of efforts on goal as the game became increasingly open. The introduction of 15-year-old Noah Anyadike then made history as he became the youngest-ever player for Cymru at this level.

Austria added a fifth on 71 minutes when Nikolaus Wurmbrand’s effort unfortunately deflected off Anyadike and looped over Duncan. Austria continued to pressure until the final whistle, with Erik Kojzek adding a sixth before Jannik Schuster’s header was deflected in by Archie Harris to make it 7-1 in the closing stages of the match.