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Austrian head coach Paul Gludovatz's strategy of keeping his top threat on the bench for most of Wednesday's match worked wonders.

A fresh Erwin (Jimmy) Hoffer came on in the 71st minute only to score the winning goal nine minutes later as Austria held off a hard-charging Gambian side for a 2-1 victory in a round-of-16 match at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Hoffer, who scored his second goal of the tournament, was listed as a surprise substitute to start the game before finally coming in with the match tied 1-1.

"Before the game I thought there could be extra time today and I wanted him available for that," Gludovatz said through a translator.

Austria advances through to the quarter-finals against the United States on Saturday in Toronto, a significant achievement for the nation that had already gone farther than any other Austrian youth team in a major FIFA tournament when they advanced through Group A with ties against Chile and Congo and a win over Canada.

"From what I hear the emotions are very high for this team back home and we appreciate it," Gludovatz said. "It is a very special experience for our players to be playing at this level internationally. They will definitely have something to talk about when they get back home."

The Gambian side controlled play much of the second half, until Austria's Veli Kavlak sent a pass through the crease to Hoffer, who chested it down and drilled a shot through Gambian keeper Joseph Gomez's hands to give the Austrians the lead.

Hoffer said he was just happy to help the team win.

"Scoring any winning goal is exciting," he said. "But if in the quarter-finals another player scores and we advance to the semifinals and it's not me, then I'm not complaining."

It was Gambia's first-ever appearance at a FIFA U-20 World Cup and one head coach Peter Johnson says they can be proud of.

"In the first half we gave Austria too much respect and sat back," said Gambian head coach Peter Johnson. "In the second half we took over. The boys played extremely well but unfortunately towards the end we lost concentration at the back and we conceded the winning goal. We created the chances but luck was not on our side late in the second half. But we played very well in the second half.

"I think we have lost honorably. They have made me proud and they have made the country proud."

Austria was the more aggressive side in the first half, holding a 58 per cent edge in possession time and outshooting Gambia 3-0 on its way to a 1-0 lead at the mid-mark.

Austria had its first good opportunity at the 17-minute mark as Zlatko Junuzovic picked up the ball in close but blasted his shot well over Gomez.

A major turning point in the match came in the 43rd minute. Gambia midfielder Tijan Jaiteh received his second yellow card of the match when he nicked Kavlak with a kick while battling for a bouncing ball.

Jaiteh was ejected, leaving his squad down a man.

"It was difficult to lose a man at that time of the game in such a tough game," said Johnson, who would not comment on the call itself.

Austria took advantage just two minutes later as Kavlak's long shot on a free kick from 35 yards out glanced off the head of Sebastian Proedl and just out of reach of a diving Gomez to put the Austrians up 1-0.

But if Austria owned the first it was the upstart African side that controlled the second half.

Gambia had a pair of opportunities to draw even early in the second half on a couple of near-misses on free kicks by midfielder Abdoulie Mansally.

In the 59th minute, Mansally had the top right-hand corner labelled on a long kick but Austrian goaltender Michael Zaglmair was able to time his leap properly and tip the ball over the net.

Mansally came close again just two minutes later but his 35-yard free kick attempt caromed off the right post.

Gambia finally got the equalizer when Austrian midfielder Martin Harnik bobbled a clearing attempt in his crease and Pierre Gomez was there to strip the ball away and beat Zaglmair to make it 1-1 in the 69th minute.