"Kharkiv" will play against "Wolfsberger": match preview

"Kharkiv" has been in Austria for the 13th day, where Mladen Bartulovich's team is going through a key stage of preparation for the new season. The team is approaching the midpoint of friendly matches, as "Kharkiv" has already played several sparring matches. First, the team defeated "Karabakh" - 6:2, but then lost to Swiss "Young Boys" - 0:2. In addition, yesterday the Kharkiv team suffered a defeat from "Salzburg" - 0:4, and in this match, Yevhen Pavlyuk, who had not played due to injury before, took part.

Last season, the team finished unexpectedly. In the championship, "Wolfsberger" made it to the elimination group after the main round, where it managed to earn the right to play in the play-offs of the Conference League. However, in the semifinals, the team lost to "Reed". And in the country's Cup, "Wolfsberger" failed to repeat its best achievement in history (winning) as they were stopped by "Salzburg" in the quarterfinals. By the way, failures during the season led to a change of coach in April - Thomas Silberberger replaced Ismail Atalan.

The Austrian opponent gathered on June 18 and has already managed to play a series of friendly matches, winning all of them. First, the team defeated the amateur team "Radentain" with an indecent score of 18:0. This was followed by a victory over Hungarian "Nyíregyháza" and Serbian "Železničar" with the same score - 2:0. The last to suffer was "Admira" from the Austrian Second Bundesliga, losing to the famous opponent - 2:8.

Head-to-head history: the teams met twice in friendly matches during training camps. In both cases, the victory was celebrated by the Austrians: 3:1 and 1:0.

Achievements: The highest achievement in the championship is the bronze medals of the 2018/2019 season. In 2025, the club won its first trophy in history - the Austrian Cup. Also, "Wolfsberger" twice played in the group stage of the Europa League, which was the peak of its performances on the international stage.

Geography: Wolfsberg is a small town in southern Austria, located in the federal state of Carinthia. It is situated in the valley of the Lavant River, surrounded by the mountain ranges of the Eastern Alps, forming a picturesque natural landscape of the region. The town has a population of about 25,000 people and is the administrative center of the Lavanttal district. Interestingly, the distance from Kharkiv to Wolfsberg is 2,061 kilometers.

Head Coach: Thomas Silberberger is a 53-year-old Austrian specialist with extensive experience in the domestic championship. He began his coaching career at "Kufstein", where he initially worked as an assistant, and later took over the team and spent six years at the club. In 2013, Silberberger moved to "WSG Tirol", where he stayed for more than a decade. It was here that he achieved his main coaching success - promoting the team to the Austrian Bundesliga and keeping them at that level. After a long period in Tyrol, the specialist took over "Admira", and in 2026, he received a new challenge, becoming the head coach of "Wolfsberger".

Transfermarkt: According to the portal, the total value of all team players is almost 20 million euros, which is the 6th indicator among teams in the Austrian Bundesliga. The most expensive player in the team is winger Thierno Ballo (6 million euros). The team includes players from Ivory Coast, Serbia, Ghana, Georgia, Kosovo, and Albania.

In the offseason, Matteo Kitz, Rafael Behunek, Giacomo Vrioni, Torsten Schreibl, and Luca Gassler joined the team (all except the first as free agents). And Dejan Zukic was sold to "Vojvodina", while the team also saw the departure of: Erik Kožek, Alessandro Schopf, Dominik Baumgartner, and Florent Haidiner.

July 10 at 11:30 (Kyiv time). Austria, Maria Alm Stadium. Friendly match #4. Summer training camp 2026.

Watch the match broadcast on the YouTube channel of "Kharkiv" and UPL.TV channel