a Perhaps one of the dark horses of the Club World Cup, RB Salzburg is headed to Cincinnati to play one match on June 18th against Mexican side Pachuca. Up until last season the Austrian club won 10 league titles in a row and nine Austrian cups. Let’s get to know this Austrian giant better.
Club Bio
Location: Salzburg, far in the west of Austria almost on the border of Germany. Salzburg is the fourth largest city in the country.
Nickname(s): Die Rotten Bullen (The Red Bulls)
Manager: Thomas Letsch
Stadium: Red Bull Arena, capacity 31,188
Club History
The club was found in 1933, under the name SV Austria Salzburg. This came after the merging of the two clubs already in Salzburg, FC Hertha Salzburg, and FC Rapid Salzburg. For the first 20 years of their existence SV Austria Salzburg played in the lower leagues of Austrian football, until their promotion to the top flight in 1953.
SV Austria Salzburg didn’t really start to have any success in the league until the 1970s. In the 1970-71 seasonthe club finished second in the League, just one point behind the winners Wacker Innsbruck. The following season Salzburg played in their first ever European competition, the UEFA cup. The success in the 1970s continued with their first ever appearance in the Austrian Cup final in 1974. They were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Austria Wien.
There was not much to write home about in the rest of the ’70s and through the ’80s, but the club found success again in the early 1990s. In 1994 the club won its first trophy ever, winning the Austrian top flight league title. In the same season the club reached their only European final to this point. They lost to the Italian Club Inter Milan 2-0 on Aggregate in the 1994 UEFA Cup Final.
SV Austria Salzburg won two of the next three league titles in the 1995, and 1997 seasons respectably. This success at the end of the ’90s would be the last the club would have before the Red Bulls takeover and rebranding.
Red Bulls Takeover
In the early 2000s SV Austria Salzburg had some financial troubles, and the club was put up for sale. The group that won the bid to take over was Red Bull, and this set the club off on a path that changed the club forever. The club was totally rebranded, moving away from the historic violet and white color scheme to a red and white color scheme with some yellow mixed in. The drastic changes did not go over well with hardcore supporters and actually led to a new SV Austria Salzburg being founded by fans.
Initially the new ownership group tried to claim this was a brand-new club with no previous history, but the club were ordered to remove these claims by the Austrian Football association. After the takeover, it didn’t take long for overwhelming success to find the “new” club. in just their second season as RB Salzburg they won their first league title since 1997. That title in 2007 started a run of 14 league titles in 15 seasons, with the only gap being the 2008 season.
Those 14 leagues titles included a run of 10 in a row running from 2014 to 2023. It was easily the most prosperous era the club had ever seen and put Salzburg on the map as one of the top clubs in Europe. With that success came trips to the Champions League year after year, putting their talent up against the best clubs across the continent.
During this run of success, the club also won nine cup trophies with eight of them being in consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2022. Despite the many trips to the Champions League, the Europa League, and the newer European Conference League, Salzburg are still trying to get back to a European final.
Notable Alumni
One thing that RB Salzburg is known for is its ability to produce world class talent. Some of the best players who play in the top leagues around the world have come from RB Salzburg. A few of the most notable players still playing today include,
Erling Haaland: Manchester City
Dominik Szoboszlai: Liverpool
Sadio Mané: Al Nassr FC
Noah Okafor: AC Milan
Hwang Hee-Chan: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Benjamin Šeško: RB Leipzig
Marcel Sabitzer: Borussia Dortmund
You could name famous alumni from this club for hours on end. The fact is that RB Salzburg has been a talent factory for many years, and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down its production of world class footballers
2024/25 Season
Much like all other leagues across Europe, the season in Austria just wrapped up at the end of May. It was another strong finish for RB Salzburg, but for the second season in a row the club came up just short of a league title. The team that beat them out for first place was Sturm Graz for the second time in a row.
In the Austrian Cup Salzburg had a surprise exit in the quarter finals. They took on LASK, a club that had to play in the relegation group the second half of the Bundesliga season. LASK took care of Salzburg 2-1, scoring the match winning goal in the 109th minute of extra time.
The club also had European football in the form of the Champions League this season. The Champions League switched to a new format this season. RB Salzburg was one of 36 teams competing for eight spots that automatically moved on to the next stage of the competition. Spots 9-24 played in a playoff to determine who made it to the round of 16. Unfortunately for Salzburg, they didn’t make it near close enough to even qualify for a playoff spot and they crashed out of the Champions League with just one win and seven defeats.
Players to watch
As mentioned earlier Salzburg is usually a side with immense amounts of young and talented players, and this iteration of the squad is no different. Nene Dorgeles was the top scorer for the club this season. He bagged 13 goals in league play and even scored a pair of goals in the Champions League. Oscar Gloukh is an Israeli winger who isn’t the biggest player but has loads of ability. He’s quick, creative, a dynamic passer, and lethal in front of goal. Mads Bidstrup is a commanding defensive midfielder with elite stats. He led the entire league this season with 2.4 successful tackles per 90 minutes. Lastly, powerful 18-year-old center back Joane Gadou is a little raw as a player, but has an immensely high ceiling. His passing is the best part of his game, and the reason why he could be getting a big money move soon.
Outlook
RB Salzburg will not have the easiest group in the Club World Cup. They have the displeasure of sharing a group with one of the best clubs in the world: Real Madrid. Their other two group mates are no joke either. Pachuca is a tough side from Liga MX, and Al Hilal just finished second place in the Saudi Pro League this season.
The first match, which will be played in Cincinnati, will be massive for RB Salzburg. They will likely need to win to have any chance of moving out of the group stage. It will be interesting to see how they will match up with Pachuca. If they can beat Pachuca, and grab a draw with Al Hilal, it just might be enough to see them through to the knockout stage.
You can watch RB Salzburg take on Pachuca at TQL Stadium on June 18th at 6pm. Tickets are available HERE.
Recommended for you
