Wales were twice pegged back by Marco Arnautovic as Austria held the Euro semi-finalsts to a 2-2 draw in Vienna.
In a battle of the two top ranked teams in Group D, Wales led twice thanks to a Joe Allen stunner and a Kevin Wimmer own-goal but Arnautovic scored two well-taken equalisers.
The result leaves four teams all on four points in the group after both Republic of Ireland and Serbia won their respective matches.
Austria came into the clash on a 10-game winning streak in European Championship and World Cup qualifiers and had not lost a competitive home fixture since Germany beat them in 2012.
Despite the tough task, there was 4,000-plus fans who made this Wales' biggest away following outside the summer's European Championship, since 2003.
Wayne Hennessey was alert to keep out Wimmer's near-post header after seven minutes before Gareth Bale was denied two minutes later by a spectacular one-handed save by Robert Almer.
However, Wales only had to wait another 15 minutes for the opening goal.
Bale drove down the left and his cross was diverted into the path of Allen by Chris Gunter. The Stoke midfielder, fresh from two goals in two games for his club, struck a confident left-footed half-volley from 22 yards right into the top corner.
However, Austria were level within six minutes as David Alaba's flighted ball allowed Arnautovic to score with a clever headed finish from close range.
But Wales were back ahead on the stroke of half-time as Sam Vokes flicked on Bale's long throw and it fell perfectly to James Chester. His header was saved but the rebound hit Wimmer and bobbled into the net.
But Wales were pegged back again on 48 minutes when Arnautovic seized on Ben Davies's error and strode through the back-line before slotting home.
Austria took control of the game from there, but rarely looked capable of breaking past Hennessey.