Piero Hincapie and Ecuador beat hosts Qatar 2-0 in the opening match in the World Cup. Ecuador's star striker Enner Valencia netted a brace (16', 31') for the South Americans on Sunday night with a goal from the 33-year-old on three minutes ruled out due to an offside decision. Hincapie played the full 90 minutes and he helped his team keep a clean sheet.
The next game for Ecuador in Group A is against the Netherlands with Bayer 04 player Jeremie Frimpong (25 November, 17.00 CET). The final group match against Senegal is four days later with the kick-off at 16.00 CET.
Jeremie Frimpong and the Netherlands also picked up three points at the start of the World Cup. The Oranje won the opening match against Senegal 2-0. Cody Gakpo on 84 minutes and Davy Klaassen nine minutes into added time scored the late goals.
In the clash of the two winners on matchday one in Group A, as already mentioned, on 25 November at 17.00 CET the Dutch team play Ecuador with Piero Hincapie. The Netherlands then play hosts Qatar four days later with a 16.00 CET kick-off.
Sardar Azmoun was another Leverkusen player to start the World Cup on Monday. The striker with Iran was on the wrong end of a 6-2 scoreline against England. Azmoun, who has been out of action since the end of September due to a muscle injury, came off the bench on 77 minutes with England 5-1 up and he hit the bar eight minutes into added time.
Azmoun and Co. play Wales in their next match on 25 November with the kick-off at 11.00 CET, and Iran finish their group matches against the USA (29 November, 20.00 CET).
Exequiel Palacios, with Argentina, is the fourth Bayer 04 player to start the World Cup tournament. The Albiceleste played Saudi Arabia in their opening match in Group C – and they suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat against the underdogs. Lionel Messi gave Argentina the lead from the penalty spot on ten minutes but Saudi Arabia turned the game round after the restart with a double whammy (48', 53'). Werkself player Palacios did not play in this game.
Argentina next play Mexico on 26 November at 20.00 CET with the third and final group match against Poland (20.00 CET) following four days later.
Once again in the last four! Bayer 04 put in a mature and, for long stretches, commanding performance to defeat a courageous FC St. Pauli in the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the third time in a row. Martin Terrier gave Leverkusen the lead on 32 minutes before Patrik Schick made it 2-0 on 63 minutes. Substitute Jonas Hofmann capped off a strong second half for the Werkself with the third goal in added time.
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The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for the title of Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for January. That includes Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 January (23:59 CET).
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As in the past two years, the Werkself are aiming to come out on top in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals on Tuesday night, 3 February (kick-off: 20:45 CET). With eleven home games in a row without defeat against the Kiezkicker, the Black and Reds go into the floodlit match in confident mood. But the Pokal, as is often said, has its own magic and the team from the Millerntor has much more to offer than the current 17th place in the Bundesliga would suggest. After all, Bayer 04 are one of the big German teams the combative Hamburgers have already made life difficult for this season. The matchday news.
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The Leverkusen eSports team picked up valuable points and made up ground in the overall table with a top four finish in the offline round in Showdown 4 in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In the round of 16, Showdown 1 winners Bayer 04 defeated the unbeaten runners-up in the previous round, VfL Bochum, in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. The Landwehr cousins, themselves the current club runners-up, then beat the current club champions and Showdown 3 winners RB Leipzig. It was not until the semi-finals that they lost out to the eventual showdown winners Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Rafaela Borggräfe. Bayer 04 have signed the goalkeeper on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season. Bayer04.de profiles the 25-year-old.
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