It was an important victory: Ecuador secured a comfortable 3-0 win against Bolivia in their World Cup qualifier to cement their third place in the South American group. Bayer 04 player Piero Hincapie played his part in that success helping to keep a clean sheet over the 90 minutes. The goals for La Tri were scored by Michael Estrada (14') and a brace from Enner Valencia (17', 19'). The first four teams qualify directly for the tournament in Qatar. The team finishing fifth will go through to a play-off for the World Cup finals against the representative from Oceania
Qualification for the next World Cup will now be a major achievement for Charles Aránguiz. Following the 2-0 defeat against Peru, Chile only have seven points. Aránguiz was in the starting line-up but was replaced by Diego Valdes on 65 minutes. La Roja are now seven points behind fifth-placed Colombia.
The Leverkusen South American quartet in the current international break also includes the two Argentinians Exequiel Palacios and Lucas Alario. The Bayer 04 players watched from the sidelines in the night from Thursday to Friday as the team drew 0-0 against Paraguay. The next opportunity for international action for the duo is on Monday, 11 October (kick-off: 01.30 CEST) with the game against Uruguay.
There was an incredible case of catch-up on Thursday night in the Nations League semi-final between Belgium and France. The Equipe Tricolore were 2-0 down at half-time. The team under coach Didier Deschamps fought back in the second half and turned the game around almost with the final kick of the game to make it 3-2 – the winner came on 90 minutes. The Werkself winger Moussa Diaby watched proceedings from the bench with the 22-year-old missing out on his third appearance for his national team. The final in the Nations League is on Sunday, 10 October (kick-off: 20.45 CEST). France face Spain.
Zidan Sertdemir was on the winning side on Wednesday in a European Championship qualifier with the Denmark U17s as they secured a 2-0 victory over Montenegro. The six foot tall Bayer 04 midfielder scored both goals to make a significant contribution to his team's success. The Leverkusen player is back in action on Saturday afternoon, 9 October (kick-off: 16.00 CEST). Denmark play Malta.
Florian Wirtz (World Cup qualifiers)
8.10, 20.45 CEST, Germany vs Rumania, Hamburg
11.10, 20.45 CEST, North Macedonia vs Germany, Skopje
Lukas Hradecky (World Cup qualifiers)
9.10, 18.00 CEST, Finland vs Ukraine, Helsinki
12.10, 16.00 CEST, Kazakhstan vs Finland, Nur-Sultan
Patrik Schick (World Cup qualifiers)
8.10, 20.45 CEST, Czech Republic vs Wales, Prague
11.10, 20.45 CEST, Belarus vs Czech Republic, Kazan
Andrey Lunev (World Cup qualifiers)
8.10, 20.45 CEST, Russia vs Slovakia, Kazan
11.10, 20.45 CEST, Slovenia vs Russia, Maribor
Moussa Diaby (Nations League)
10.10, 20.45 CEST, Spain vs France, Milan (Finale)
Charles Aránguiz (World Cup qualifiers)
11.10, 02.00 CEST, Chile vs Paraguay, Santiago
15.10, 02.00 CEST, Chile vs Venezuela, Santiago
Exequiel Palacios and Lucas Alario (World Cup qualifiers)
11.10, 01.30 CEST, Argentina vs Uruguay, Buenos Aires
15.10, 01.30 CEST, Argentina vs Peru, Buenos Aires
Piero Hincapie (World Cup qualifiers)
10.10, 22.30 CEST, Venezuela vs Ecuador, Caracas
14.10, 23.00 CEST, Colombia vs Ecuador, Barranquilla
Odilon Kossounou (World Cup qualifiers)
8.10, 15.00 CEST, Malawi vs Ivory Coast, Johannesburg
11.10, 18.00 CEST, Ivory Coast vs Malawi, Marrakesh
Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong (U21 Euro qualifiers)
8.10, 19.00 CEST, Switzerland vs Netherlands, Lausanne
12.10, 20.00 CEST, Netherlands vs Wales, Nijmegen
Amine Adli (U21 Euro qualifiers)
8.10, 18.30 CEST, France vs Ukraine, Brest
12.10, 18.30 CEST, Serbia vs France, Belgrade
Zidan Sertdemir (U17 Euro qualifiers)
9.10, 16.00 CEST, Malta vs Denmark, Paola
12.10, 11.00 CEST, Denmark vs Turkey, Paola
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
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It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
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