
Wirtz played in midfield alongside former Leverkusen player Kai Havertz for the opening 45 minutes before being replaced at half-time by Mario Götze. Niclas Füllkrug netted a brace in the 2-0 win in Mainz (12', 33'). Wirtz and Co. have a second friendly on Tuesday 28 March against Belgium. The kick-off at the Rhein-Energie-Stadion in Cologne is at 21.00 CEST.
A winning start for Adam Hlozek and his Czechia teammates on Friday 24 March with a 3-0 victory over Poland in Group D in their first Euros qualifier. The striker started the game and was replaced by Vaclav Cerny on 89 minutes.
Moussa Diaby and France also made a successful start to their Euro qualifiers on Friday: The Équipe Tricolore registered an impressive 4-0 win against the Netherlands in the match in Group B in Paris. Diaby came on in place of Kingsley Coman on 67 minutes.
Patrick Pentz also celebrated a first win with Austria: The Austrian national team entertained Azerbaijan in Linz on Friday with a 4-1 win in Group F. Pentz was not in goal.
Odilon Kossounou with the Ivory Coast celebrated their first win in the AFCON qualifiers with a 3-1 victory against Comoros. The defender came on as a sub on 86 minutes to replace Eric B. Bailey. And Edmond Tapsoba was also a winner in the same competition with Burkina Faso: Tapsoba and Co. beat Togo 1-0.
Piero Hincapie was in action in Melbourne: The Leverkusen player appearing for Ecuador came up against the hosts Australia on Friday morning (CET). The match ended in a 3-1 win for Australia with Hincapie on the pitch for the whole 90 minutes.
Mitchel Bakker was a winner on Saturday with the Netherlands U21 team in a friendly against Norway (3-0). Bakker came on as a sub on 70 minutes. Amine Adli was on the losing side with the France U 21s in a 4-0 defeat to England in Leicester. Adli started the game but was substituted after 63 minutes.
Following the goalless draw against the Slovenia U19s on Wednesday 22 March, Noah Mbamba drew again with the Belgium U19 side: Mbamba and Co. drew 1-1 with the Germany U19s in Bremen in a qualifier for the 2023 U19 European Championships. Mbamba played for 70 minutes.
Madi Monamay and the Belgium U17 team yesterday played against Croatia in the U17 elite round. The game in Fredrikstad in Norway ended in a 1-0 defeat. Monamay did not play in this game. The first match against Slovenia three days ago ended in a 1-1 draw.
The only game on Sunday 26 March involves keeper Lukas Hradecky with Finland: Following defeat against Denmark three days ago, the Eagle Owls play the second Euro qualifier in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland beat San Marino 2-0 in their first qualifier. The kick-off at Windsor Park in Belfast is at 20.45 CEST.
Forthcoming international fixtures:
Adam Hlozek (Euro qualifier):
27.03., 20.45 CEST, Moldova vs Czechia, Chisinau
Patrick Pentz (Euro qualifier):
27.03., 20.45 CEST, Austria vs Estonia, Linz
Moussa Diaby (Euro qualifier):
27.03., 20.45 CEST, Ireland vs France, Dublin
Lukas Hradecky (Euro qualifier):
26.03., 20.45 CEST, Northern Ireland vs Finland, Belfast
Odilon Kossounou (AFCON qualifier):
28.03., 15.00 CEST, Comoros vs Ivory Coast, Moroni
Edmond Tapsoba (AFCON qualifier):
28.03., 21.00 CEST, Togo vs Burkina Faso, Lomé
Florian Wirtz (Friendly):
28.03., 20.45 CEST, Germany vs Belgium, Cologne
Exequiel Palacios (Friendly):
28.03. Kick-off TBC, Argentina vs Curacao, Santiago del Estero
Piero Hincapie (Friendly):
28.3., 10.30 CEST, Australia vs Ecuador
Mitchel Bakker (U21 friendly):
27.3, 14.00 CEST, Netherlands U21 vs Czechia U21, Pinatar
Amine Adli (U21 friendly):
28.3, 18.30 CEST, France U21 vs Spain U21, Vannes
Noah Mbamba (U19 elite round):
28.3, 12.00 CEST, Italy U19 vs Belgium U19, Bremen
Madi Monamay (U17 elite round):
28.3, 17.00 CEST, Norway U17 vs Belgium U17, Sarpsborg

In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
Show more
The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
Show more
The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...

After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
Show more
Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
Show more