1930 World Cup in Uruguay

The first edition of the FIFA World Cup in Uruguay was the only one without qualifiers. However, the Austrian Football Association chose not to participate.

1934 World Cup in Italy

After defeating France and Hungary on their way into the semi-finals, the strong Austrian squad lost 0–1 to hosts and eventual champions Italy. In the Third Place Match against Germany, Austria conceded a goal after 25 seconds by Ernst Lehner - the fastest goal in World Cup history until 1962.

1938 World Cup in France

After qualifying by defeating Latvia in the qualifiers, Austria was drawn against Sweden in the first round. However, after the Anschluss in March 1938, the Austrian Football Association was incorporated into the German system. Nine Austrian players were called up for the Germany national squad instead. After being fielded in the opening match against Switzerland, Willibald Schmaus and goalkeeper Rudolf Raftl were the first players ever to represent two different nations at the FIFA World Cup. The match ended 1-1. In the decisive rematch, Austrian striker Wilfried Hahnemann scored the opening goal, but the final score was 2-4 and Germany eliminated from the tournament.

1950 World Cup in Brazil

Austria initially registered to participate and was supposed to play Turkey in the qualifications, but withdrew. At a later stage, Turkey also withdrew.

1982 World Cup in Spain

Drawn in Group 2 alongside Algeria, Chile, and the Federal Republic of (West) Germany, Austria gained traction by defeating the South Americans 1–0 in the first group match. Austria later won 2–0 over the Algerians that saw them at a comfortable position in the group stage; however, Algeria, having already beaten West Germany in an upset, found themselves victorious against an already-eliminated Chile, and thus were all-but guaranteed to proceed to the next round alongside Germany, potentially leaving Austria out.

Austria played their decisive final group stage encounter against neighbors West Germany in Gijón, Spain, in one of the most controversial matches in World Cup history. Nicknamed "the Disgrace of Gijón, the match saw West Germany scoring once against Austria before both teams and players deliberately played underwhelmingly, wasting the clock and mathematically having both European teams of the group qualify at the expense of Africa's Algeria, the latter whom had defeated the Chileans a day prior to conclude their part of the group stage. Outrage from Algerian fans and Spanish spectators ensued, and both the German and Austrian media condemned the underhanded tactics of both teams' method of subversive "boring" football, with the German commentary team constantly apologizing to viewers for the sub-par action. Algerian football fans dubbed the match "the Anschluss", a reference to Austria being annexed by Germany under the Nazi regime. Austria saw themselves bowing out in a three-team group of the second stage, losing to France and drawing with Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, West Germany reached the final, losing 3–1 to European rivals Italy.

By Match

World Cup	Round	Opponent	Score	Result	Venue	Scorers
1934	Round of 16	France	3–2 (a.e.t.)	W	Turin	M. Sindelar, A. Schall, J. Bican
	Quarter-finals	Hungary	2–1	W	Bologna	J. Horvath, K. Zischek
	Semi-finals	Italy	0–1	L	Milan	—
	Third place play-off	Germany	2–3	L	Naples	J. Horvath, K. Sesta
1954	Group stage	Scotland	1–0	W	Zürich	E. Probst
		Czechoslovakia	5–0	W	Zürich	E. Probst (3), E. Stojaspal (2)
	Quarter-finals	Switzerland	7–5	W	Lausanne	T. Wagner (3), A. Körner (2), E. Ocwirk, E. Probst
	Semi-finals	West Germany	1–6	L	Basel	E. Probst
	Third place play-off	Uruguay	3–1	W	Zürich	E. Stojaspal, L. Cruz (o.g.), E. Ocwirk
1958	Group stage	Brazil	0–3	L	Uddevalla	—
		Soviet Union	0–2	L	Borås	—
		England	2–2	D	Borås	K. Koller, A. Körner
1978	Group stage	Spain	2–1	W	Buenos Aires	W. Schachner, H. Krankl
		Sweden	1–0	W	Buenos Aires	H. Krankl
		Brazil	0–1	L	Mar del Plata	—
	Second round	Netherlands	1–5	L	Córdoba	E. Obermayer
		Italy	0–1	L	Buenos Aires	—
		West Germany	3–2	W	Córdoba	H. Krankl (2), B. Vogts (o.g.)
1982	Group stage	Chile	1–0	W	Oviedo	W. Schachner
		Algeria	2–0	W	Oviedo	W. Schachner, H. Krankl
		West Germany	0–1	L	Gijón	—
	Second round	France	0–1	L	Madrid	—
		Northern Ireland	2–2	D	Madrid	B. Pezzey, R. Hintermaier
1990	Group stage	Italy	0–1	L	Rome	—
		Czechoslovakia	0–1	L	Florence	—
		United States	2–1	W	Florence	A. Ogris, G. Rodax
1998	Group stage	Cameroon	1–1	D	Toulouse	A. Polster
		Chile	1–1	D	Saint-Étienne	I. Vastić
		Italy	1–2	L	Saint-Denis	A. Herzog

Record by Opponent

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent	Wins	Draws	Losses	Total	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded
Algeria	1	0	0	1	2	0
Brazil	0	0	2	2	0	4
Cameroon	0	1	0	1	1	1
Chile	1	1	0	2	2	1
Czechoslovakia	1	0	1	2	5	1
England	0	1	0	1	2	2
France	1	0	1	2	3	3
Germany	0	0	1	1	2	3
Hungary	1	0	0	1	2	1
Italy	0	0	4	4	1	5
Netherlands	0	0	1	1	1	5
Northern Ireland	0	1	0	1	2	2
Scotland	1	0	0	1	1	0
Soviet Union	0	0	1	1	0	2
Spain	1	0	0	1	2	1
Sweden	1	0	0	1	1	0
Switzerland	1	0	0	1	7	5
United States	1	0	0	1	2	1
Uruguay	1	0	0	1	3	1
West Germany	1	0	2	3	4	9

Team awards

• Third Place 1954

Individual awards

• Silver Ball 1934: Matthias Sindelar
• Silver Boot 1954: Erich Probst

Ernst Happel has won 2nd Place as a coach with the Netherlands in 1978 after losing the final 3-1 a.e.t. to Argentina