World Cup qualifier suspended after sinkhole opens up on pitch

Play was delivered to a standstill throughout Austria’s 2026 World Cup qualifier towards Cyprus after a sinkhole all of the sudden appeared on the pitch late within the second half.

The weird incident occurred across the seventy fifth minute, when Danish referee Jakob Kehlet halted the match after noticing the gaping gap close to Austria keeper Alexander Schlager’s field on the Raiffeisen Area, in Linz.

The opening was large sufficient to swallow a whole soccer, prompting floor employees to hurry on with buckets of sand in a frantic try and patch it up.

After greater than seven minutes of repairs, Kehlet lastly gave the inexperienced mild to renew, with Austria finally sealing a 1-0 win because of Marcel Sabitzer’s second-half penalty – scored earlier than the bottom gave method.

The win means Austria at the moment are second in Group H qualifying, having received all three of their video games up to now, behind additionally unbeaten Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Remarkably, this isn’t the primary time Austrian soccer has flirted with the earth caving in. Again in 2022, a Nations League conflict towards Denmark, which Austria misplaced 2-1, on the Ernst Happel Stadium was additionally interrupted by an enormous sinkhole opening up on the pitch.

No less than this time Austria nonetheless managed to dig out the three factors – although possibly somebody in needs to be calling a geologist earlier than the following fixture.

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