Original Puma soccer shirt Austria 2006

As with most countries, the English also brought football to Austria. This is reflected in the names of the oldest clubs founded in 1894, First Vienna FC and Vienna Cricketer. On December 18, 1898, a match was played in the Prater between Viennese Englishmen and residents of Vienna. On 8 April 1901, the Austrians played a first international match against a selection from Switzerland, but neither of these unions recognized this match as official. The players who played this international match came from the major Viennese clubs First Vienna, Vienna Cricketer and WAC.

On October 12, 1902 the country played the first official international match. At that time the Austria-Hungary empire still existed. The country did have two football teams. For Austria, players from Cisleithania could be called up, for Hungary from Transleithania. At the time, however, the first official international match was designated as a match between Vienna and Budapest. Austria won 5-0 and Jan Studnicka even scored a hat trick. The match was often played and is the most played international match in Europe. In the world they only have to let Argentina-Uruguay take the lead. In the beginning, the international match was played twice a year, once in Vienna and once in Budapest. There was a big rivalry between both teams and the matches were the highlights of the football season. In 1912 the country participated for the first time in an international tournament, at the Olympic Games in Stockholm. The German empire was cut into a pan with 5-1, but then they lost to the Netherlands. There was another consolation tournament for the losers. Here they won from Norway and Italy and qualified for the final, which they lost 3-0 to Hungary. During the First World War only Hungary and neutral Switzerland were played.