Who is Johannes Moser? Austria’s teenage sensation that guided nation to U17 WC final
“The boy is a big surprise”
©IMAGO
Austria have made history before a ball has even been kicked in Thursday’s final of the U17 World Cup. For the first time in the nation’s history at any age level, Austria will take part in the final of a World Cup and that is in no small part due to the remarkable talent of Johannes Moser. The 17-year-old midfielder was on form in the semi-finals against Italy, finishing off an impressive counter-attack to open the scoring in the 57th minute, only to then score a direct free-kick in the dying moment of the match. And such heroics from the young talent are something that his team mates have gotten used to throughout this competition.
In total, Moser goes into the final against Portugal having scored three goals and assists in the group stages, a goal and an assist in the 2-0 win over Tunisia in the first knock-out round, two goals against England in the Round of 16, the only goal in Austria’s narrow win over Japan in the quarter-finals and then aforementioned brace against Italy.
Which means that Moser has bagged an incredible 10 goals and assists in just seven games at this year’s competition – more than any other player in the tournament by three clear goal contributions. If Moser were to score two goals in the final on Thursday, he would match Victor Osimhen for the most goals in the competition’s history. So who is this teenage sensation? To find out more, we asked Transfermarkt’s Area Manager for Austria, Dorian Schuster, for some more information on the nation’s latest star.
“The boy is a huge surprise,” said Schuster, when asked about the sudden rise of Moser. “Moser tore up the U16 league a few years ago for Red Bull Salzburg, but didn’t stand out as much in the U18 Youth League.” This certainly lines up with his stats, which show Moser picking up an impressive 17 goals in 20 games for Salzburg’s U16 team, but then only scoring eight in 21 games for the U18.
Although Moser can play in centre mid, on the right wing and even as a wing-back, he has played exclusively on the left wing at this year’s U17 World Cup. Dorian adds: “In April, he made his professional debut in the second division (for FC Liefering – Red Bull Salzburg’s reserve team) and has done quite well so far; his biggest moment to date came in the derby against Austria Salzburg, when he scored his first professional goal with a fantastic free kick, simultaneously setting Liefering on the path to victory.”
Although Moser has only managed one goal and one assist in 13 games for FC Liefering this season, it’s clear that the Austrian talent continues to make short work of youth football even if it is at the highest level. And, if he can begin to perform at senior level with anything like the tenacity and consistency that he’s shown for Red Bull Salzburg and the Austrian national team’s youth teams, then it won’t be long before he’s shooting up the rankings of the most valuable players in the Austrian Bundesliga. But before then Moser has a World Cup final to win.
