The Finland team including Werkself captain Lukas Hradecky travelled over 3,000 kilometres from Helsinki to the next venue in the World Cup qualifiers. After the 2-1 home defeat against Ukraine, the Eagle Owls headed to Nur-Sultan. With Hradecky in goal, Finland secured a 2-0 victory in the Kazakhstan capital. Striker Teemu Pukki netted a brace (45', 48'). Bayer 04 player Joel Pohjanpalo (currently on loan at Caykur Rizespor in Turkey) had to go off on 33 minutes.
Finland are now third in Group D with eight points. As second-placed Ukraine have played one more game and only have one point more, the Eagle Owls have the chance of qualifying for the play-offs in their own hands. Finland's two remaining opponents in the World Cup qualifiers are Bosnia-Herzegovina (13 November) and France (16 November).
Bayer 04 new signing Amine Adli followed on with the next chapter after his textbook debut on Friday: The 21-year-old found the back of the net again in the U21 Euro qualifier against Serbia when he opened the scoring for the France U21 side on 29 minutes. The versatile forward came off on 70 minutes with the young French team securing a 3-0 victory 20 minutes later. Adli and Co. are currently top of Group H.
There was an emphatic victory for another Leverkusen duo with their national team: Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong were in the Netherlands U21 side that clocked up a convincing 5-0 home victory over Wales. Both Werkself players started and Frimpong was substituted on 74 minutes. Bakker provided the assists for the first and fourth goals.
Youngster Zidan Sertdemir and the Denmark U17 team ended up losing 4-3 on penalties in the Euro qualifier against Turkey. The 16-year-old Leverkusen player netted the leveller at 2-2 in normal time and scored as the first penalty taker in the shootout.
Exequiel Palacios and Lucas Alario (World Cup qualifier)
15.10, 01.30 CEST, Argentina vs Peru, Buenos Aires
Piero Hincapie (World Cup qualifier)
14.10, 23.00 CEST, Colombia vs Ecuador, Barranquilla
Once again, well over 100 Werkself fans were delighted to receive an invitation from the club’s record appearance-maker, Rüdiger Vollborn, to the sold-out Schwadbud at the BayArena. This time, the supporters listened as the club historian provided fascinating, exclusive insights into the period from Bayer 04 being founded in 1904 to the club’s promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979. A journey through time is also planned for the upcoming ‘Rudi lädt ein’ event in early November – this time focusing on the years of the Nazi regime.
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Happy children’s faces at the SSV Lützenkirchen training ground: For the 25th time, the Birkenberg soccer school – organised by SportBund Leverkusen – offered participating youngsters an exciting holiday activity. Meeting a Bayer 04 player has now become a cherished tradition. This time, Ibrahim Maza visited the 150 children and spoke to them about his World Cup experiences, amongst other things. “It’s always lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm for football,” said the 20-year-old, after bringing a sparkle to many eyes with selfies and autographs.
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One day after the successful DFB Pokal first round tie at SV Wehen Wiesbaden (4–0), the mood was understandably really good: Over 400 Bayer 04 supporters gathered on Sunday, 23 August, for the annual fan club meet-up at the BayArena and got in the mood for the new season through direct and informal discussions with Bayer 04 management, head coach Carles Martínez and Werkself players.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-0 win at RB Leipzig on the 1st matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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