Austria 0-2 Cymru
- UEFA Under 21 Championship Qualifiers
- Tuesday, 14 October 2025
- Hofmann Personal Stadion, Linz
Cymru head coach Matty Jones made three changes to his starting line-up from the heavy defeat against Belgium as George Nevett, Calum Agias and Gabriele Biancheri were all included for what was already a must-win match for the visitors in Linz.
There wasn’t much between the two teams in the early exchanges, and it was Cymru goalkeeper Lewis Benjamin who was first called into action on 12 minutes as a lapse in concentration allowed Austria to counter-attack. Jacob Hödl caused Cymru a few problems on the left but his influence was soon nullified as the visitors grew into the match.
Cymru looked confident in possession as they patiently looked to open Austria’s defence, but the first real chance of the match came at the other end of the field on 24 minutes when Belmin Beganović found himself in plenty of space in the area but could only curl his effort wide of Benjamin’s far post.
Less than a minute later Cymru were ahead as Gabriele Biancheri, making his first start at this level, capitalised on a mistake by defender David Heindl and took the ball past goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth to score his first Cymru U21 goal.
The goal saw Cymru’s confidence increase as they pushed for a second while remaining organised and disciplined in defence. Austria became increasingly frustrated as half-time approached and it was no surprise to see head coach Peter Perchtold make two changes before the restart.
Austria were a different team in the second half and dominated for long periods, despite the best efforts of Cymru to maintain their shape in defence. Kai Edwards played an important role in breaking up play in midfield, but the constant pressure pushed Cymru back to defend deep into their own half.
David Puczka had two chances after the hour mark before Nikolas Sattlberger hit the crossbar. Substitute Moritz Wels came close before Tim Trummer had two great chances in the space of a minute, first shooting wide before seeing his second effort blocked. On 78 minutes, Benjamin made a superb save from Austria captain Samson Baidoo.
It seemed only a matter of time before Austria would find the equaliser, but as they pushed forward in numbers, they became more vulnerable at the other end of the field. As the game went into added time, substitutes Luke Harris and Chris Popov combined and it was Popov who sealed the win with his second goal of the campaign.
As it happened
Austria U21 0-2 Cymru U21
