But that was no surprise. The youngster has made fantastic progress in the past few weeks and he reached another milestone in Serraville on Friday night.
“I think I need another two nights before I can take it all in,” beamed Henrichs after the 8-0 win in San Marino. “The lads have been brilliant and I really feel at home in the team. Serge and me should give a speech, sing or something similar. We’d be happy to do that after a game like that,” said Benny with a smile after the expectedly high win against the absolute underdogs.
Youngest-ever Germany international in Bayer 04’s history
19 years and 262 days: That is how old Henrichs was on his full international debut for Germany. That makes him the youngest-ever Germany international at Bayer 04. Gonzalo Castro, the previous record holder, was a month older when he made his debut in 2007.
Henrichs showed no signs of nerves on the night. The full back even had the first chance on the match but he just missed the target from 14 yards out on two minutes. The goals started coming a few minutes later with the captain Sami Khedira making it 1-0 on seven minutes. Serge Gnabry, the second debutant alongside Henrichs, doubled the lead two minutes later.
Henrichs chances on goal
The team coached by Joachim Löw dominated proceedings after the early brace and plenty of goalscoring opportunities followed. One of them again fell to Benny Henrichs but the homegrown Bayer 04 talent again missed the target. On 32 minutes, Jonas Hector scored the third goal on the night. Half-time came with the scoreline still 3-0 in favour of Germany.
Volland like Gerd Müller
Germany still retained complete control of the game after thec restart. Serge Gnabry netted his second goal on his international debut on 58 minutes to put Germany 4-0 up. Jonas Hector bagged his second just after the hour mark and goal number six was also scored by Werder Bremen’s Gnabry (75’).
And the goal fest carried on – thanks to Kevin Volland. The Werkself striker, introduced on 70 minutes, put in a pin-point cross on 82 minutes and the ball was put into the San Marino net by one of their own players. Three minutes later it was Volland who got onto the scoresheet with a goal on the turn like Gerd Müller at his best to round off the scoring at 8-0. That was the first international goal for Volland and the result strengthens Germany’s lead in Group C with a five-point lead over second-placed Northern Ireland.
Aránguiz makes a point with Chile
Charles Aránguiz was in action on Thursday night with Chile in a 0-0 draw with Colombia in the South American World Cup qualifiers. Aránguiz went off injured on 73 minutes. The Chileans are now fifth in the table behind Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay and leaders Brazil.
New signing Miguel Gutiérrez arrives in Leverkusen having won the Champions League, the Spanish league title and an Olympic gold medal. However, the 25-year-old Spaniard, signed from Napoli, is looking to the future – he wants to write the next chapter of success with the Werkself. Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the skilful, attack-minded left-back, who will wear the number 3 jersey.
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Nine matches against teams from nine countries, two penalty shoot-outs won, and encounters that went far beyond football: As with last year, the Inklusionswerkself enjoyed an extraordinary week at the Genuine Cup 2026 in Houston, USA, and made memories that will last a lifetime. This year, the Leverkusen side took part as Germany’s official representatives and, accordingly, took to the pitch in Germany kit. Together with 53 teams from 53 nations, the Black and Reds once again sent a powerful message of inclusion and participation – and also impressed on the pitch by winning their group.
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The Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog, you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. The programme for day two (Monday, 3 August) centres on two training sessions – one in the morning (open to the public) and one in the early evening (behind closed doors) – at the nearby training grounds. In the afternoon, fans can look forward to a big fan meet-up with club legend Paulo Sergio at Schloss Blankenhain.
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