However, not all the pros are on their summer holidays – international players Julian Brandt, Bernd Leno and Jonathan Tah meet up today with the rest of the Germany squad for a training camp in Eppan (South Tyrol) where the 27-man group will prepare for the forthcoming World Cup (14 June to 15 July) under the guidance of national coach Joachim Löw up to 7 June. Three days before that, Löw will have to decide on his 23 players for the tournament in Russia.
As part of the World Cup preparations, ‘Die Mannschaft’ play Austria in a friendly in Klagenfurt on 2 June. This gives Brandt, Leno and Tah the possibility of a reunion with Julian Baumgartlinger who like Aleksandar Dragovic, currently on loan at Leicester City, was called up to the Austria scored yesterday by national coach Franco Foda. ‘Baumi’ has captained Austria since September 2016 but they have not qualified for the World Cup. In addition to the game against Germany, Austria also have friendlies against World Cup teams Russia (30 May in Innsbruck) and Brazil (10 June in Vienna)..
The final friendly during the ‘mission title defence’ for Germany is on Friday 8 June (19.30 CET, live on ARD) against Saudi Arabia at the BayArena. After the match, the draw for the first round proper of the DFB Cup (17 to 20 August) will be held at the Football Museum in Dortmund at 22.15 CET – the Werkself are one of 32 teams in the draw.
Ecuador international Piero Hincapie, who moved to Arsenal FC on loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen for the 2025/26 season, will join the English champions permanently on 1 July 2026.
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The date and kick-off time for Bayer 04’s match in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal have been confirmed. The Werkself face SV Wehen Wiesbaden on Saturday afternoon, 22 August, at 13:00 CEST. The German Football Association (DFB) announced this today, Wednesday. The Pokal tie against the Hessen state cup winners will be played at the BRITA Arena. Ticket information to follow at a later date.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro will lead a club delegation to Brazil from July 2-6 for a program of partner engagement, community activities and football development initiatives across São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
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In glorious sunshine and temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius, the Bayer 04 Women have begun their preparations for the new season. With a relaxed first session at the Kurtekotten training centre, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team became the first Bundesliga side to resume training after a 37-day break.
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