Live Republic of Ireland v Austria updates: Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side in Linz for Nations League clash

Nations League: Austria v Republic of Ireland, Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, 7.45pm Irish time'We' want to be on the front foot and try to surprise them at the beginning. Don't tell anyone.'Heimir Hallgrimsson talks @corktod through his attacking team selection📺Watch Austria v Ireland live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 7pm pic.twitter.com/HUO21NEYby— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 14, 2026 And this is Austria’s team. Ralf Rangnick, who probably has Mauricio Pochettino in his prayers this week, is without eight players through injury, including six he describes as “core players”.Austria: Alexander Schlager; Stefan Posch, Philipp Lienhart, Kevin Danso, Philipp Mwene; Konrad Laimer, Christoph Baumgartner, Nicolas Seiwald; Romano Schmid, Christoph Lang; Michael Gregoritsch.Meantime, we have some reading for you. Gavin Cummiskey previews this evening’s game, Hallgrímsson having had some tricky selection decisions to make in light of the fact that five of his players - Jayson Molumby, Liam Scales, Ryan Manning, Adam Idah and Conor Coventry - are one booking away from missing that key game against Kosovo on Tuesday. [ Ireland seek Austria win in bid for Nations League promotionOpens in new window ]Gavin Cooney looks at Hallgrímsson’s efforts to turn the Irish camp in to a “growth environment”, the head coach tweaking all sorts of matters in the last week - from the day the players arrived for duty to dealings with the media - to “challenge everyone in the camp to think in terms of a growth mindset”. [ Ireland v Austria: Heimir Hallgrímsson on how side is preparing for Nations League clashOpens in new window ]And captain Nathan Collins reflects on his injury-forced absence from Ireland’s last four games, including the two against Israel. “I guess I can come in here probably with a fresher mind,” he said. “I don’t have that scar tissue of last month from what [his team-mates] have experienced.” [ Nathan Collins aware of ‘scar tissue’ in Ireland camp after Israel gamesOpens in new window ]Heimir Hallgrímsson with a rather unique take on his team selection for tonight: “It’s a sexy set-up, it’s a sexy line-up.” Captain Nathan Collins is back after missing Ireland’s last four games with a calf injury, and Dara O’Shea returns too after the birth of his child saw him miss the draw against Israel last month. They’ll form the back three alongside Liam Scales, while James Abankwah is available again having served a suspension - he’ll be in the right-wing back slot, with Ryan Manning on the left. Caoimhin Kelleher, need it be said, is in goal.Finn Azaz will fill that deeper role beside Jayson Molumby in midfield, while Adam Idah and the in-form Jack Moylan will be the supporting acts behind Troy Parrott. The team news is in. A “pretty attacking Irish selection - Finn Azaz in a deeper midfield role, Jack Moylan and Adam Idah supporting Troy Parrott,” as one of our Gavins in Linz - the Cooney man - says. Republic of Ireland: Caoimhin Kelleher; Dara O’Shea, Nathan Collins (capt), Liam Scales; James Abankwah, Ryan Manning; Jayson Molumby, Finn Azaz; Jack Moylan, Adam Idah; Troy Parrott.Your Ireland starting XI to face Austria 🇮🇪Nathan Collins returns to the side with Adam Idah & Troy Parrott leading the line 👊Kick-off in Linz is 75 minutes away 🏟️ pic.twitter.com/QC64WLQlh7— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) November 14, 2026 Hello everyone, seeing as there’s no other sport of note taking place this evening, you might as well join us for the latest stop on our journey following this Republic of Ireland side. At 7.45, they kick off against Austria in Linz in what is both teams’ penultimate game in their Nations League group. How do things stand? Well, earlier today, Kosovo, who were reduced to 10 men for the last half-ish hour, drew 0-0 with Israel in Pristina, so this is how the group now looks:As it stands: Ireland’s Nations League group ahead of tonight’s game against Austria. The gist: If Ireland win tonight and beat Kosovo in their final game on Tuesday at the Aviva Stadium, they will top the group and secure promotion to League A. They would finish ahead of Austria if the sides were level on points because of their head-to-head record.Regardless of the result in Linz, a win over Kosovo on Tuesday now guarantees Ireland at least second in the group. That would earn them a promotion/relegation play-off against a side finishing third or fourth in their League A group. And - very importantly - it would put them in with the second seeds for next month’s Euro 2028 qualifying draw, rather than being tossed in to the third pot.Finishing third would just leave Ireland in League B, no ups or downs, while ending up bottom of the group would leave them needing to beat a League C runner-up in a play-off to avoid relegation. That’s unlikely-ish - for that to happen, they would need to lose their last two games and Israel would have to beat Austria in Hungary on Tuesday.Is all that clear? No? Panic not, from here on we’ll focus on football rather than maths. Promise.