Austria will begin their belated World Cup qualifying campaign when they take on Romania in Vienna on Saturday. The hosts are currently looking to make a successful start in Group H, having participated in the UEFA Nations League playoffs in March, when their Romanian opponents collected three points from two games.

After finishing second in the latest Nations League group stage, Austria had a chance to join Europe's elite via a spring play-off against Serbia, but they ultimately lost 3-1 on aggregate. Austria went unbeaten at home during the group stage, with big wins over Norway and Kazakhstan and a draw with Slovenia before a 1-1 draw at the Ernst Happel Stadium and a 2-0 defeat in Belgrade. They may remain in League B of UEFA's latest international competition, but Ralf Rangnick's priority is of course to qualify for the next World Cup.

Austria has not reached a global final since the 1998 World Cup in France, so the pressure is on their experienced head coach to finally put an end to that slump. He has had a good start in charge and has shown promise at Euro 2024, but they are already six points behind Group H leaders Bosnia and Herzegovina and three behind Saturday's visitors.

Romania have played Austria twice before in World Cup qualifiers, taking a point from each of their two away games at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The two teams last met in the Nations League nearly five years ago, when Romania won 3-2 in Vienna before losing 1-0 at home. Romania made a disappointing start to their most recent World Cup qualifiers and cannot afford to drop points if they are to compete for a place at the top of their group. Only group winners qualify directly for next summer's World Cup, while runners-up face a far more dangerous play-off.

Mircea Lucescu's side had a strong showing at the Euros and then went on to win six straight Nations League games, but suffered a surprise home defeat to Bosnia on the opening day before beating group underdogs San Marino 5-1 in Serravalle. So, Romania is racing to catch up and qualify for the first World Cup of this century, and letting Austria equalise could be costly. If they can get something out of Saturday's game before a home win over Cyprus, it will be the perfect birthday present for Lucescu, who turns 80 next month.

Austria predicted starting XI: Penz; Bosh, Danso, Linhart, Mwen; Sewald, Grillitsch; R. Schmid, Baumgartner, Sabitzer; Arnautovic

Romania predicted starting XI: Nita; Ratiu, Popescu, Bulka, Banku; R. Marin, M. Marin, Stanciu; Man, Dragus, Coman