Ljubicic Earns First Austria Call-Up in Nearly Three Years After Baumgartner Injury
Dejan Ljubicic has been called into Austria's FIFA World Cup squad as a late replacement for Christoph Baumgartner, who underwent surgery on a right thigh injury sustained during a pre-tournament warm-up. Austria head coach Ralf Rangnick confirmed the call-up late Wednesday. Ljubicic is set to join the squad at their training camp in Santa Barbara on Thursday.
Baumgartner suffered the injury while warming up for a friendly against Tunisia last week. The Leipzig midfielder had been one of Austria's key attacking options, scoring 17 goals across all competitions for the German club last season. He has remained with the squad in a support capacity despite being ruled out of competition. Ljubicic, a defensive midfielder, offers a different profile - more disciplined positionally and less oriented toward goal-scoring than the player he replaces.
Ljubicic plays his club football for Schalke in Germany, who secured promotion from the second division last month. His international record stands at nine caps, none of which came at a major tournament. His most recent appearance for Austria was in a friendly against Moldova in September 2023, and he was not included in the squad for any of the World Cup qualifying fixtures.
Austria open their Group J campaign on Tuesday against Jordan. They also face Argentina and Algeria in the group stage. The Ljubicic call-up leaves Austria with a reshaped midfield going into the tournament, and his integration into Rangnick's setup in the days before the opener will be closely watched.
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