
The three Confed Cup winners Julian Brandt, Benjamin Henrichs and Bernd Leno are in the Germany squad for the World Cup qualifiers for the 2018 tournament in Russia with matches against the Czech Republic (1 September in Prague, 20.45 CET live on RTL) and Norway (4 September in Stuttgart, 20.45 CET live on RTL). Löw announced his squad on Friday.
17 of the Confed Cup winners are in the 24-strong Germany squad. They are joined by established players who were rested for the tournament in Russia. In Group C of the World Cup qualifiers, Germany are clearly ahead of Northern Ireland with six victories so far.
Jonathan Tah has been called up to the U21 squad - the Germany team under coach Stefan Kuntz have a friendly against Hungary on 1 September before the European Championship qualifier against Kosovo four days later. Earlier in the week it was announced that Atakan Akkaynak, Kai Havertz and Sam Schreck have been called up by Germany coach Meikel Schönweitz for the U19 international fixtures in Switzerland (31 August) and in England (5 September).
Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich will also have to make do without six other players during the international break: Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic (both Austria), Admir Mehmedi (Switzerland), Kevin Kampl (Slovenia), Joel Pohjanpalo (Finland) plus Charles Aránguiz (Chile) have also been called up for international duty.

Less than a year ago, Kerim Alajbegovic moved from the Bayer 04 U19s to Austrian top-flight club FC Red Bull Salzburg. The forward’s development since then has been impressive. In 36 matches, including in the UEFA Europa League, the 18-year-old has scored 14 goals. In the summer, Alajbegovic, now a Bosnia international, will return to Leverkusen - and thus not only achieve the next milestone still early in his career, but also enrich the Werkself squad with his footballing versatility and determination.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with forward Nathan Tella ahead of schedule. The versatile 26-year-old, who can be deployed as a right winger, false nine or left winger, has penned a new contract to 30 June 2031. Tella joined the Werkself from Championship club Southampton in 2023. His previous contract ran to the summer of 2028.
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Nathan Tella has extended his contract with Bayer 04 to 2031. In an interview with Werkself TV, the 26-year-old talks about fulfilling his dreams, his positive outlook on life and his goals for the future. He answers the questions in English - all except the last one, which he addresses directly to the fans...
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In the final international break in the current 2025/26 campaign, Bayer 04 striker Patrik Schick with Czechia will be battling for a place at the World Cup. Meanwhile, national teams that have already qualified, include other Werkself players called up, are involved in friendlies in the build-up to the World Cup. Read on for an overview of the Leverkusen internationals and their match dates.
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The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
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