
As in the first group game against Portugal, Chicharito was in the starting eleven against Russia in Kazan. The record scorer was the lynch pin of his team for the full 90 minutes. Although he didn’t score, he did create a number of chances and could have made it 3-1 with a header. The match was a close-fought affair with Mexico maintaining the upper hand and they were not put off course when Russia opened the scoring.
Mexico moved above Russia to finish second behind European Champions Portugal and thereby progress to the semi-finals where they will meet the other group winner in Sochi on Wednesday. That could be Germany if they beat Cameroon in the final group match in Sochi on Sunday.
The Germany U21s were in action in Poland. Although they lost 1-0 to Italy in Krakow that result was enough to take Germany through to the U21 European Championship semi-finals. Dominik Kohr, who returns to the Werkself for the start of next season, did not play.
Four Leverkusen players are involved in matches on Sunday:
Bernd Leno, Benjamin Henrichs and Julian Brandt are in the Germany squad for final group match in the Confederations Cup against Cameroon at 17:00 CET. Charles Aránguiz and Chile face Asian champions Australia at the same time. Both games are live on TV.

In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
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