
Bernd Leno and Julian Brandt helped secure a place in Russia for Germany at the World Cup finals on Thursday. The two Bayer 04 players did not play in the 3-1 victory over Northern Ireland but can hope to get a start in Sunday's final qualifier (20.45 CET) against Azerbaijan in Kaiserslautern. Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Saturday, Joachim Löw said Bernd Leno would be in goal on Sunday.
The Germany U21s secured a 6-1 victory over Azerbaijan in the second European Championship qualifier. Jonathan Tah captained Stefan Kuntz's team and played the full 90 minutes, Benjamin Henrichs provided the assist for the third goal from left back before being substituted on 67 minutes. The European Champions are in action in Norway on Tuesday.
The chance of qualifying for next year's World Cup in Russia is out of their reach but Julian Baumgartlinger and Joel Pohjanpalo had reason to celebrate. 'Baumi' captained Austria in the impressive 3-2 win against group-leaders Serbia, 'Danger' secured a point for Finland with a last-minute goal in the surprise 1-1 draw with Croatia. Both Leverkusen players went the full distance.
Sidelined in Leverkusen, the crossed fingers of Charles Aránguiz may well have helped: Chile kept their hopes of qualifying alive in the South American group with a late winner in the 2-1 victory over Ecuador with the other results seeing them rise to third spot ahead of the final match against the qualified Brazil on Tuesday with one game to play and everything to play for in their hands in the night to Wednesday.
The Germany U19 s are on a good run at the moment with a trio of Bayer 04 players making a decisive contribution. After Kai Havertz had a fantastic day in Wednesday's 5-1 win in the European Championship qualifiers in Poland with four goals and one assist, Atakan Akkaynak and Sam Schreck followed up with two great performances. The two Bayer 04 lads scored the first two goals for Germany in Saturday's runaway 7-1 win against Northern Ireland, with Havertz making it 4-1 from the penalty spot. All three played the full 90 minutes. The Germany U19s take on hosts Poland on Tuesday (18.00 CET) in the race for top spot.
The Germany U17s started the World Cup finals in India with a 2-1 win against Costa Rica. Jan Boller of Bayer 04 had a good game in central defence, Goalkeeper Marian Prinz did not play in Goa. The ambitious Germany team face Iran (Tuesday) and Guinea (Friday) in the two remaining group matches.

The United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is celebrated worldwide on 3 December. Together with Bayer AG, Bayer 04 is once again setting an example for diversity and inclusion by lighting up the BayArena in purple in the evening.
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For the second time in four days, Bayer 04 face Borussia Dortmund this Tuesday evening, 2 December (kick-off: 21:00 CET) - this time in the round of 16 of the DFB Pokal, with more than 7,000 fans supporting the Werkself at Signal Iduna Park. After the recent 2-1 defeat to BVB in the league, several cup stats provide hope of revenge for the Black and Reds. There are several reasons why Bayer 04 recommends getting to the round of 16 clash early, in which VAR will be in use, unlike in the previous rounds. Read on for further information on tonight’s game in our matchday news.
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Just three days on from the Bundesliga meeting in Leverkusen, Bayer 04 now visit Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal on Tuesday (21:00 CET). Ahead of the game at the Signal Iduna Park, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how to approach this second encounter in 72 hours and a number of developments within the squad.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 12 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...