Ralf Rangnick’s Austria fought back from a goal down to draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998.
Bosnia-Herzegovina needed a victory if they were to qualify themselves and they took a 12th-minute lead through Haris Tabakovic in Vienna.
However, Michael Gregoritsch equalised in the 77th minute when he reacted first to finish the rebound after Austria had hit the crossbar to make it 1-1.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were one goal away from qualifying, but instead will now have to enter the play-offs where they will need to win two single-leg ties to join Austria in next summer’s finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Austria came third in the World Cup in 1954 and fourth in 1934 but missed the past six tournaments after they went out in the group phase, failing to win a game, in 1998.
Rangnick managed Manchester United for six months on an interim basis in 2021-22, before taking charge of the Austria team in May 2022.
He guided them to Euro 2024, when they beat Poland and the Netherlands to make it into the last 16, before losing 2-1 to Turkey.
In eight Group H matches, Austria won six, drew one and lost one to end on 19 points, two more than Bosnia-Herzegovina.
