Austria recorded an emphatic victory against the Faroe Islands to move up to third place in FIFA World Cup qualifying Group C, a point behind Sweden in second.

It was a win that never looked in doubt from the moment Philipp Hosiner opened the scoring after eight minutes. Two more goals followed inside the first half-hour, and the Austrians scored three in five minutes late in the second half to seal a comprehensive triumph.

After passing up a golden opportunity early on, Hosiner could have already had a goal to his name before he connected with a Christian Fuchs cross to get things started in Vienna. Once he had found his scoring touch, however, there was no denying the the Austrian Bundesliga's leading marksman a second goal, finishing coolly after pouncing on a defensive error.

Despite being 2-0 up after 20 minutes, Marcel Koller's team stayed hungry and their constant pressure meant a third goal never seemed far away. It came on 27 minutes, Andreas Ivanschitz leaving Gunnar Nielsen no chance from with a swerving effort from distance.

Austria overwhelmed their opponents after the restart, the crossbar twice denying David Alaba and Hosiner coming close to a hat-trick before the floodgates opened. Zlatko Junuzović struck with 13 minutes left and Alaba finally got his much-deserved goal a minute later, before György Garics fired in from the edge of the box in a frenetic five-minute spell to make it six.

On Tuesday, Austria travel to Dublin to play the Republic of Ireland, who are also the Faroes' next opponent on 7 June.