Club World Cup Preview: Red Bull Salzburg

In partnership with

Hooligan Soccer

·14 giugno 2025

Club World Cup Preview: Red Bull Salzburg

The thirtieth in our continuing series highlighting all thirty-two clubs in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, and the second of Group H. The event kicks off Saturday, June 14th at 8pm ET.

Club Background

From: Salzburg, Austria
How They Qualified: Officially, it’s based on their UEFA ranking pathway from Champions League performances. This baffles me, as many far superior clubs sit above them in that ranking but were not invited. Something smells.

Best CWC Finish: They are debutantes.
Recent Form: Finished 4th in the Austrian Bundesliga Championship Round; 3rd on points. This qualified them for the Conference league. Were eliminated from the Champions League during group play. Only scored 5 goals in 8 matches (and conceded 27).
Facts: Founded in 1933 as SV Austria Salzburg; name and colors (violet/white -> red/white) changed in 2005 after acquisition by Red Bull. As of publication, eight players in their roster are injured.

The Team

Manager: Thomas Letsch He took over in Dec. 2024 from Pepijn Lijnders. Outside of his first coaching gig at SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (in Germany’s 5th tier), Letsch has never had a winning record since 2015.
Star Players: Karim Konaté Ivorian striker. 8g/2a. Oscar Gloukh Israeli attacking midfielder. 10g/8a. Nene Dorgeles Malian forward, only 22 years-old. 13g/3a.
Young Players: The whole team is essentially a youth camp. So take your pick. We’re looking forward to seeing Alan Bautista (midfielder, 22, Mexico youth international), Luis Puente (forward, 21, academy product).
Training Sites: Melanie Lane Training Ground, Whippany, New Jersey

When to Watch

6:00pm ET on Jun 18, 2025 vs. CF Pachuca @ TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
6:00pm ET on Jun 22, 2025 vs. Al Hilal @ Audi Field, Washington, DC
9:00pm ET on Jun 26, 2025 vs. Real Madrid @ Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA

The Hooligan Take

Here’s a list of clubs above them in the UEFA pathway ranking (from FIFA’s own website):

OneFootball Video

Liverpool (current Premier League champions)
Red Bull Leipzig
Barcelona (current La Liga champions)
Napoli (current Serie A champions)
Sevilla
AC Milan.

How can any reasonable person say Salzburg was a string pick than any of those? I’m not a blind hater here, if they can produce on the pitch I’ll get behind them. But with the youngest team in the tournament, a manager whose last winning season was back in 2015 I find this unlikely. One thing in their favor: their pool is not the strongest. Perhaps they will be the surprise upsetter?