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Watch Austria score the quickest goal in international football history

Written by Will Murray
Last Update: March 24, 2024
Published on

Christoph Baumgartner scored the fastest goal in international football history during Austria’s 2-0 win against Slovakia.

The attacking midfielder scored after only six seconds, with Andreas Weimann’s late goal confirming the win for Ralf Rangnick’s team.

Baumgartner goal explained

Baumgartner received the ball from the centre circle at the start of the game before beating three Slovakian players. The Austrian midfielder then looked up and fired the ball with his right-foot past the helpless Slovakian goalkeeper, Martin Dúbravka.

Baumgartner said: “We’ve done this variation before, sprinting away at full risk from the kick-off. Somehow the sequence of steps worked out so that I got the run.”

Podolski record beaten

The strike after six seconds beat Lukas Podolski’s seven-second strike against Ecuador in 2013, which previously held the record.

A second slower than Podolski’s goal was Davide Gualtieri’s infamous goal against England for San Marino in 1993 and Christian Benteke’s strike against Gibraltar in 2017.

Austria in good form before UEFA Euro 2024

The victory against Slovakia was Austria’s fourth consecutive win and clean sheet. Previously, they have beaten Germany, Estonia, and Azerbaijan, and they look well placed to be a team to watch in the Euros this summer.

Austria’s first game in UEFA Euro 2024 is against France on June 17, before matches against the Netherlands and one of Wales or Poland.

English fans will remember Rangnick, who was interim manager at Manchester United for six months. He has now managed 20 matches for Austria and has a 60% win record.