
Lukas Hradecky can achieve a lot in the next two weeks: If the keeper and his Finnish team-mates pick up more than one point against Lichtenstein and Hungary then the North Europeans will be in the European Championship finals for the first time. "We can make a piece of history for our country," said the 29-year-old full of anticipation. Kai Havertz wanted to have the same feeling as one of the three Bayer 04 players called up to the Germany squad. However, the 20-year-old suffered an injury in the Bundesliga clash with VfL Wolfsburg (2-0) and has now had to drop out of the forthcoming matches for Germany.
Nadiem Amiri and Jonathan Tah (both Germany):
Saturday 16 November (20.45 CET in Mönchengladbach): Germany v Belarus (Euro qualifier, Group C)
Tuesday 19 November (20.45 CET in Frankfurt): Germany v Northern Ireland (Euro qualifier, Group C)
Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic (both Austria:
Saturday 16 November (20.45 CET in Vienna): Austria v North Macedonia (Euro qualifier, Group G)
Tuesday 19 November (20.45 CET in Riga): Latvia v Austria (Euro qualifier, Group G)
Lukas Hradecky and Joel Pohjanpalo (both Finland):
Friday 15 November (18.00 CET in Helsinki): Finland v Liechtenstein (Euro qualifier, Group J)
Monday 18 November (20.45 CET in Athen): Greece v Finnland (Euro qualifier, Group J)
Lucas Alario (Argentina):
Friday 15 November (18.00 CET in Riad): Brazil v Argentina (friendly)
Monday 18 November (20.15 CET in Tel-Aviv): Argentina v Uruguay (friendly)
Charles Aranguiz (Chile):
Wednesday 20 November (02.30 CET in Lima): Peru v Chile (friendly)
Paulinho (Brazil U23):
Thursday 14 November (20.30 CET in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria): Brasilien U23 v USA U23 (friendly)
Moussa Diaby (France U21):
Friday 15 November (21.00 CET in Nancy): France U21 v Georgia U21 (Euro qualifier, Group 2)
Tuesday 19 November (19.00 CET in Neuchatel): Switzerland U21 v France U21 (Euro qualifier, Group 2)
Panagiotis Retsos (Greece U21):
Friday 15 November (20.00 CET in Edinburgh): Scotland U21 v Greece U21 (Euro qualifier, Group 4)
Adrian Stanilewicz (Poland U20):
Thursday 14 November (16.00 CET in Chojnice): Poland U20 v Switzerland U20 (U20 Elite League)
Monday 18 November (17.00 CET in Bytow): Poland U20 v Norway U20 (Freundschaftsspiel)
Marcel Lotka (Poland U19):
Wednesday 13 November (14.00 CET in Newport): Wales U19 v Poland U19 (Euro qualifier, Group 5)
Saturday 16 November (14.00 CET in Newport): Poland U19 v Kosovo U19 (Euro qualifier, Group 5)
Tuesday 19 November (14.00 CET in Cardiff): Poland U19 v Russia U19 (Euro qualifier, Group 5)

Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
Show more
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
Show more
With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
Show more
The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
Show more
Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
Show more