Group F looks set to be one of the most closely fought World Cup qualification groups. Two sides that will be hopeful of reaching the World Cup will meet on the opening night, as Austria visit Hampden Park to take on Scotland.
World Cup Qualifiers
There will still be a feel-good factor around Scotland coming into their World Cup qualification campaign, as the Scots qualified for the European Championships during the last international break. They will already be looking forward to a showdown against England at Wembley during Euros, but they would be ill-advised to look too far ahead, as they will still be keen to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar next year. Scotland will need to see off a number of talented sides to finish at the group leaders though, as Denmark, Austria and Israel have all improved as international outfits over the last couple of years. Despite winning qualification to the Euros in the last international break, the Scots come into this game having lost their last two. Those defeats have both come in the form of 1-0 losses, and came against Slovakia and Israel.
Austria could be the pick of the nations to push Denmark the closest at the top of the group, but this week of fixtures will be pivotal to their chances. After coming up against Scotland, they play Denmark in Vienna next week. Austria come into this most recent international break in good form, as they have won two of their previous three games. Their two most recent wins have come against Luxembourg and Northern Ireland. However, they were held in their last fixture, as they played out a 1-1 draw with Norway. Adrian Grbic scored a late stoppage time leveller in that game to deny Norway the win.
Scotland vs Austria Head To Head
Scotland and Austria have met on 20 occasions in the past, but this will be the first meeting between the nations since May 2007. Scotland have won six times, while Austria have recorded eight wins. Scotland won the last meeting between the nations 1-0.
Scotland vs Austria Prediction
This fixture could be huge for both nations and their chances of qualifying for the World Cup next year. Neither side will want to lose on the opening night, which means a draw could be the best selection for the game in Scotland.
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