Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO: "With the passing of Franz Beckenbauer, football has lost a unique personality. He was appreciated and admired all over the world and achieved extraordinary things for the game as a player, coach and official. On behalf of our entire club, I would like to express our deep condolences on the death of Franz Beckenbauer and our deepest sympathy to all his family and friends. His services to football can hardly be put into words."
Simon Rolfes, Bayer 04 managing director for sport: "Franz Beckenbauer's death is not merely a great loss for German football. Our country has lost an extraordinary personality, a world-class sportsman who was respected and admired beyond our borders. Franz Beckenbauer was an idol of many generations, one of the best, if not the best German footballer of all time. A great player and 1974 World Cup-winning captain, who later also showed huge charisma as DFB team manager and won the 1990 World Cup with his team almost as if it was a matter of course. Bayer 04 Leverkusen honours the memory of a man who made sporting history. Our deepest sympathy goes to the family and friends of Franz Beckenbauer."
As a player, Beckenbauer won a host of trophies, particularly with FC Bayern Munich. He was named Germany's Footballer of the Year four times and won the Ballon d'Or twice. After 13 successful years in his native city, the former world-class libero moved to New York Cosmos, where he played alongside Brazilian legend Pelé, among others. At the end of his playing days, he returned to Germany and celebrated another Bundesliga title with Hamburger SV in 1982.
Beckenbauer won the World Cup with West Germany both as a player in 1974 and as team manager in 1990. Germany also owes the hosting of the 2006 World Cup to Der Kaiser, who headed the bidding team and also served as president of FC Bayern Munich and vice-president of the German FA (DFB) for many years.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
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The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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