
There was a big and positive surprise with the call-up to the Germany squad for Werkself midfielder Robert Andrich. The 29-year-old, called up for the first time, was delighted: “Of course, I’m incredibly pleased. I have to say it was a very big surprise but I’m looking forward to it and I definitely won’t forget today.”

Call-ups to date:
Robert Andrich, Jonas Hofmann, Jonathan Tah und Florian Wirtz (Germany)
Exequiel Palacios (Argentina)
Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)
Lukas Hradecky (Finland)
Josip Stanisic (Croatia)
Adam Hlozek (Czechia)
Amine Adli (Morocco)
Odilon Kossounou (Ivory Coast)
Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso)
Piero Hincapie (Ecuador)
Victor Boniface (Nigeria)
Noah Mbamba (Belgium U19)
Madi Monamay (Belgium U18)
Call-ups to the Spain and Netherlands squads are yet to be announced.

Former Bundesliga and Germany keeper Manfred Manglitz, who was promoted to the Oberliga West with Bayer 04 in 1962, passed away on Monday at the age of 86.
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The FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico is underway. A total of eight Leverkusen players are taking part in the 23rd World Cup, with 48 teams in the tournament for the first time. Bayer04.de brings you all the latest from Werkself players at the World Cup.
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Following the summer break of around two months, the Bayer 04 first team squad took to the training pitches at the BayArena for the first time on Tuesday – and the players were in high spirits. Alongside the newly formed coaching team led by head coach Carles Martínez, new signing Afonso Moreira also completed his first session with the squad. In front of several hundred Bayer 04 fans at the open session, numerous Werkself players worked up a good sweat. The Leverkusen players who took part in the World Cup will join pre-season training at a later date.
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In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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