Austria's World Cup road map: departure, Camp Bacara, 16 days without a match

Austria are on their way to the World Cup: the ÖFB squad flew out of Vienna-Schwechat towards Los Angeles on Thursday morning (June 4) — sent off by Federal President Van der Bellen, with a bus transfer at the other end and the Pacific coast as the destination. Here is the complete road map to the June 17 opener — including the one quirk that gets too little attention: Austria will not play a single match until then.

The send-off: lucky charms and a poster for Baumi

The airport scene had everything a World Cup farewell needs. President Alexander Van der Bellen handed captain David Alaba small lucky charms inscribed "A goal is a dream with a deadline" — the deadline being the World Cup final on July 19. Sports minister Andreas Babler and ÖFB supervisory board chairman Josef Pröll spoke of shared pride; Alaba of a childhood dream.

And the team remembered the man who is missing: before departure, the players unrolled a poster for the injured Christoph Baumgartner. Why his absence hits the system harder than any other is its own analysis — Rangnick travels with 25 players for now, with the call-up window open until June 16.

The base: Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Goleta

Via Los Angeles, a bus takes the team to the World Cup base camp: the Ritz-Carlton Bacara hotel in Goleta near Santa Barbara, right on the Californian Pacific coast. From there, it's flights to the three group-stage venues: Santa Clara, Arlington and Kansas City.

The quirk: 16 days without a match

Now to the oddity of this schedule. The final warm-up against Guatemala, originally planned for June 10 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, was cancelled without replacement — Guatemala refused to play despite a valid contract, having already fixed other internationals in the US. Per ÖFB managing director Bernhard Neuhold, the fixture will be made up at a later date, probably before EURO 2028.

That makes the 1-0 over Tunisia on June 1 at the Happel Stadium the de facto dress rehearsal. Between the last test and the opener lie 16 days without competitive football — only training in Goleta.

Good or bad? Two readings. The optimistic one: full training weeks for Rangnick to recalibrate the system without Baumgartner — with zero injury risk in a sportingly worthless friendly (the memory of Baumgartner's warm-up injury is fresh). The sceptical one: no stress test against a deep block of the kind Jordan will set, and 16 days is a long time for rhythm. The truth arrives on June 17 at 06:00 CEST.

All dates until the opener — in CEST

• June 4 — departure Vienna → Los Angeles, bus to Goleta ✅
• June 5–16 — training camp at Camp Bacara, no friendly
• June 16, 06:00 — deadline for a possible Baumgartner replacement call-up
• June 17, 06:00 — World Cup opener vs. Jordan, Santa Clara
• June 22, 19:00 — vs. Argentina, Arlington
• June 28, 04:00 — vs. Algeria, Kansas City

The tactical preparation for all three opponents is in our Group J deep dive — plus individual analyses of every team.

Sixteen days of preparation, then it counts. Is your prediction for the opener locked in? Set it with your Tipprunde on tiptilldone.com — Challenge accepted?!

When did Austria depart for World Cup 2026?

On Thursday morning, June 4, 2026, from Vienna-Schwechat on a scheduled flight to Los Angeles — sent off by Federal President Van der Bellen.

Where is Austria's World Cup base camp?

At the Ritz-Carlton Bacara hotel in Goleta near Santa Barbara, California — right on the Pacific coast.

Does Austria play another friendly before the World Cup opener?

No. The June 10 test against Guatemala was cancelled without replacement. The dress rehearsal was the 1-0 over Tunisia on June 1 in Vienna.

How long is Austria without a match before the opener?

Sixteen days: the last test was June 1, the opener follows on June 17 at 06:00 CEST against Jordan in Santa Clara.

Sources

• ORF Sport: ÖFB-Team vor Flug in USA verabschiedet
• ORF Sport: ÖFB-Generalprobe ersatzlos gestrichen
• SN: ÖFB-WM-Testspiel gegen Guatemala ersatzlos gestrichen
• Sky Sport Austria: Baumgartner fällt nach OP lange aus

Updated: June 5, 2026