Red Bull Salzburg head to the Club World Cup as Austria’s first-ever representatives, hoping to punch above their weight on the global stage. Drawn with Pachuca, Al-Hilal and tournament giants Real Madrid, can the perennial talent factory finally turn promise into prestige?
1) Who will RB Salzburg face at the Club World Cup?
RB Salzburg have been drawn into Group H and these are their group stage fixtures:
18 June: vs Pachuca. TQL Stadium, Cincinnati.
22 June: vs Al-Hilal. Audi Field, Washington DC.
26 June: vs Real Madrid. Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia.
2) Pre-Red Bull history
Founded in 1933 as SV Austria Salzburg, this club did have plenty of history before the modern rebranding we know today, including winning three Bundesliga titles in four years in the late-90s.
Their most-notably achievement came in the 1993/94 season, reaching the UEFA Cup Final, dumping out DAC Dunajská Streda, Royal Antwerp, Sporting CP, Eintracht Frankfurt and Karlsruher en route. However, they were beaten 1-0 in both legs of the final by Internazionale, missing out on the trophy.
3) Post-Red Bull domestic domination
As alluded to earlier, Red Bull completed their takeover of Salzburg in 2005, changing the club's colours from violet to white and red, as well as overhauling the crest and branding. Many supporters were opposed to this change, founding a phoenix club SV Austria Salzburg who still exist today.
Well, since the controversial takeover, die Roten Bullen have dominated Austrian football, winning 14 Bundesliga titles, as well as the ÖFB-Cup on nine occasions. This was at its peak between 2014 and 2023, as they claimed ten successive league titles, as well as eight domestic cups.
4) Recent decline
RB Salzburg's monopolisation of Austrian silverware has come to an end in the last two seasons, failing to win each of the last two Bundesliga titles, bringing to an end their ten-in-a-row stranglehold.
This season, they lost seven league matches, their most in a single campaign for a decade, ultimately finishing two points behind champions Sturm Graz.
5) Modern European record
This domestic domination has provided Salzburg with a platform on which they've become European regulars. They've qualified for a UEFA group stage in each of the last nine seasons, getting all the way to the Europa League semi-finals in 2018, ousted by Olympique de Marseille after extra time.
In each of the last six years, die Roten Bullen have featured in the Champions League group phase, albeit they've only reached the knockout phase once, demolished 8-2 by Bayern Munich in 2022.
This time round, after overcoming Twente and Dynamo Kyiv in qualifiers, Salzburg finished 34th in the 36 team league phase, losing seven of their eight fixtures, conceding 27 goals. Their sole win was a shock 3-1 victory over Feyenoord in November; Karim Konaté the scorer of a brace at De Kuip.
If Salzburg are going to get back into the Champions League again this year, they'll have to come through three rounds of qualifying to make it. They will enter in the second qualifying round, the first leg of which is scheduled for 22 July, a mere nine days after the Club World Cup Final, so a deep run stateside could result in an extremely tight turnaround for their players.
6) Past Club World Cup expirence
RB Salzburg have never previously participated in the Club World Cup under any of it's previous guises. In fact, they will become the first-ever Austrian side to do so.
7) Previous young superstars
In modern times, Salzburg has become a breeding ground for young talent. Erling Braut Håland, Sadio Mané, Dominik Szoboszlai and Dayot Upamecano are amongst the many global superstar who've called Stadion Wals-Siezenheim home, before being sold on for big fees to bigger clubs elsewhere.
8) RB Salzburg player to watch: Dorgeles Nene
With that in mind, could Dorgeles Nene become Salzburg's next young superstar?
The 22-year-old Malian international moved to Austria as a teenager and, after loan spells at sister club FC Liefering as well as SV Ried and Westerlo, has started to establish himself in the first team.
Dorgeles was the second-top scorer in the Austrian Bundesliga this season with 13 goals, just one behind veteran Ronivaldo of Blau-Weiß Linz. He also netted twice during Champions League qualifying as they reached the league phase, so could be poised to impress at this tournament?
9) Manager Thomas Letsch: plenty to prove
A year ago, after Jürgen Klopp stepped down as Liverpool manager, his long-time assistant Pepijn Lijnders took over as RB Salzburg boss, looking to forge his own career as a head coach. Well, suffice to say this did not go to plan for anyone involved, with Lijnders sacked in mid-December, having won only 13 of 29 matches at the helm.
He was replaced by Thomas Letsch, a 56 year old who'd previously been in charge of Erzgebirge Aue, Austria Wien, Vitesse Arnhem and Bochum, with mixed success. Letsch did a solid if unspectacular job leading Salzburg to second place, but it remains to be seen if he'll be the man they want long term.
10) An uphill battle to advance
RB Salzburg kick off their Club World Cup campaign against Pachuca, before facing Al-Hilal and then Real Madrid, a side who smashed them 5-1 at the Bernabéu as recently as January.
Given Real Madrid's obvious pedigree and the talent that Al-Hilal possess, Salzburg are certainly massive underdogs to progress to the round of 16.