"I had a certain insight early on and I knew the DFB had done their homework. Both presentations were good but in the end we won out against Turkey," said Rudi Völler who was present at the award ceremony at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. "Now we can all look forward to a great European Championship in Germany in 2024."
The finals of Euro 2020, to be played in 12 countries, will include matches in Germany. Confirmed venues for EURO 2024 are Berlin, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Köln, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart.
Including the World Cup tournaments in 1974 and 2006, this will be the fourth big men's tournament held in Germany. The Federal Republic also staged the women's World Cup in 2011 with four of the games played in Leverkusen including a quarter-final. The women's European Championship finals have twice been held in Germany (1989 and 2001).
Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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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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The next footballing highlight is just around the corner: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the tournament, will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico and feature 48 teams for the first time. Bayer04.de has all the latest on the Werkself players called up to represent their countries.
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