The man of the match in the Ecuadorian capital Quito was a Black and Red: In the World Cup qualifier against Venezuela, Piero Hincapie scored the only goal of the game on 41 minutes to secure three important points for Ecuador in the race to qualify for the World Cup finals next year.
The team including the 19-year-old Leverkusen summer signing now have 20 points and are still in third place, which would be good enough to qualify for the tournament in Qatar. The next game for Ecuador is against Chile on Wednesday, 17 November (kick-off: 01.15 CET).
Amine Adli and the France U21s were also winners. The Bayer 04 player was in the starting line-up in the 7-0 home win against Armenia and he was substituted on 63 minutes with the score at 5-0. The junior Les Bleus team are top of Group H with 13 out of a possible 15 points and on course for the U 21 European Championships in 2023. The last international of the calendar year for Adli and Co. is in North Macedonia on Tuesday, 16 November (kick-off: 18.30 CET).
Germany were also successful against Liechtenstein: The team under coach Hansi Flick clocked up a 9-0 victory in the World Cup qualifier in Wolfsburg. Jonathan Tah did not feature. Germany are the runaway leaders at the top of Group J. The final match in Armenia is on Sunday, 14 November. The kick-off is at 18.00 CET.
On as a substitute, scores a goal, provides an assist – and is a winner. That sums up a successful international afternoon for Emrehan Gedikli. The Leverkusen U19 striker, now on professional terms at Bayer 04, came off the bench on 62 minutes in the opening game of the U19 Euro qualifiers against the Faroe Islands. He scored the goal to make it 2-1 eleven minutes later. The 18-year-old also provided the assist for the final goal at 4-1 (90'). Germany have two other group matches against Russia (30 November) and Greece (16 November).
Iker Bravo and the Spain U19s also started with a win with a 2-1 victory against Luxembourg. The Leverkusen player came on with 63 minutes on the clock. The other opponents in Group 8 are Azerbaijan (30 November) and Belgium (16 November).
Remaining internationals involving Bayer 04 players:
Jonathan Tah (World Cup qualifiers)
14.11, 18.00 CET, Armenia vs Germany, Yerevan
Lukas Hradecky (World Cup qualifiers)
13.11, 15.00 CET, Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Finland, Zenica
16.11, 20.45 CET, Finland vs France, Helsinki
Moussa Diaby (World Cup qualifiers)
13.11, 20.45 CET, France vs Kazakhstan, Paris
16.11, 20.45 CET, Finland vs France, Helsinki
Jeremie Frimpong (U21 Euro qualifiers)
2.11, 18.45 CET, Netherlands U21 vs Bulgaria U21, Almere
15.11, 14.00 CET, Gibraltar U21 vs Netherlands U21, Gibraltar
Amine Adli (U21 Euro qualifier)
16.11, 18.30 CET, Macedonia U21 vs France U21, Skopje
Exequiel Palacios (World Cup qualifiers)
13.11, 00.00 CET, Uruguay vs Argentina, Montevideo
17.11, 00.30 CET, Argentina vs Brazil, San Juan
Piero Hincapie (World Cup qualifier)
17.11., 01.15 CET, Chile vs Ecuador, Santiago de Chile
Edmond Tapsoba (World Cup qualifiers)
12.11, 14.00 CET, Burkina Faso vs Niger, Marrakesh
16.11, 17.00 CET, Algeria vs Burkina Faso, Blida
Odilon Kossounou (World Cup qualifiers)
13.11, 20.00 CET, Ivory Coast vs Mozambique, Cotonou
16.11, 20.00 CET, Cameroon vs Ivory Coast, Yaoundé
Emrehan Gedikli (U19 Euro qualifiers)
13.11, 13.00 CET, Germany U19 vs Russia U19, Patras
16.11, 14.00 CET, Greece U19 vs Germany U19, Nafpaktos
Iker Bravo (U19 Euro qualifiers)
13.11, 18.00 CET, Spain U19 vs Azerbaijan U19, Bissen
16.11, 18.00 CET, Belgium U19 vs Spain U19, Bissen
Zidan Sertdemir (U19 friendlies)
13.11, 15.00 CET, Georgia U19 vs Denmark U19, Vila Mea
16.11, 11.00 CET, Portugal U19 vs Denmark U19, Capital do Movel
Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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