The Netherlands with Jeremie Frimpong faced the USA in the Round of 16 with goals from Memphis Depay (10’) and Daley Blind (45+1’) giving them a two-goal lead at half-time. The USA reduced the deficit on 76 minutes with a strike from Haji Wright but the Oranje’s Denzel Dumfries sealed the win at 3-1 five minutes later.
Frimpong did not feature in the game against the USA and he is still waiting for his first World Cup appearance.
Argentina played Australia in the last sixteen - and they won 2-1 in the end. The Albiceleste captain Lionel Messi opened the scoring on 35 minutes and Julián Álvarez made it 2-0 just before the hour mark (57’). Australia pegged Argentina back on 77 minutes with an own goal by Enzo Fernández but were unable to draw level.
Exequiel Palacios came off the bench on 80 minutes and he helped to secure the win in this knockout tie.
Sardar Azmoun with Iran and Piero Hincapie with Ecuador went out of the 2022 World Cup at the end of the group stage
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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