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.
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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While the majority of the Bayer 04 Women are enjoying their summer break, nine Werkself players will be on duty for their national teams in the coming days. Three of them are competing for a place at the World Cup, while six are involved in two friendlies with the Germany U23 team.
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