
The winner in the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year category was football player Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain). The award winners were decided ahead of the event by the Laureus Academy made up of 70 of the greatest living sports legends.
The Werkself won the German league title for the first time in the club's history in 2023/24 in the most impressive way without a single defeat. In addition, the team led by head coach Xabi Alonso reached the final of the UEFA Europa League and sealed the German double by winning the DFB Pokal. And Bayer 04 secured a third trophy within a few months by winning the Supercup last summer.

The other winners in 2025 alongside Lamine Yamal are the pole vaulter Armand Duplantis (World Sportsman of the Year), gymnast Simone Biles (World Sportswoman of the Year), plus Real Madrid (World Team of the Year) and Rafael Nadal (Sporting Icon Award).
The Laureus World Sports Awards:
The Laureus World Sports Awards, celebrating the 25th anniversary this year, are the most prestigious awards in sport and are also known as the 'Oscars of Sports'. The aim is to honour outstanding sporting achievements as well as promoting community projects through the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Previous winners include Lionel Messi, the Spain men's and women's teams, Rafael Nadal and Michael Schumacher.

This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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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 personalised 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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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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