Florian Wirtz entered the Leverkusen history books on Thursday night. The midfielder made his debut for Germany under head coach Hansi Flick in the World Cup qualifier against Lichtenstein (2-0, goals scored by Timo Werner and Leroy Sané). At the age of 18 years, three months and 30 days, Wirtz becomes the youngest Germany full international for Bayer 04.
Exequiel Palacios was also able to celebrate a victory. Argentina secured a 3-1 win against Venezuela. The goals for La Albiceleste were scored by Lautaro Martinez (45'), Joaquin Correa (71') and Ángel Correa (74'). Palacios started on the bench but came on for Rodrigo de Paul on 76 minutes.
The only defeat from a Werkself perspective was suffered by Charles Aránguiz. The 32-year-old and his Chile teammates faced the five-time World Cup winners Brazil in the night from Thursday to Friday. The match ended in a narrow 1-0 win for the Seleção thanks to a goal from Éverton Ribeiro (64'). Aránguiz started but was substituted 15 minutes from full-time when Diego Valdés came on.
Leverkusen's new signing Piero Hincapie did not play. The Ecuador international was not in the squad under head coach Gustavo Alfaro on Thursday night and thereby missed the 2-0 win for his team against Paraguay.
Charles Aránguiz (World Cup qualifiers)
5.9., 23:00 CEST, Ecuador vs Chile, Quito
10.9., 01:00 CEST, Colombia vs Chile, Bogota
Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong (U21 Euros qualifier)
7.9.,18:45 CEST, Netherlands vs Moldova, Deventer
Moussa Diaby (World Cup qualifiers)
4.9., 20:45 CEST, Ukraine vs France, Kiev
7.9., 20:45 CEST, France vs Finland, Lyon
Emrehan Gedikli (U19 friendlies)
3.9., 17:00 CEST, Germany vs Switzerland, Bad Dürrheim
6.9., 17:15 CEST, Germany vs England, Bad Dürrheim
Piero Hincapie (World Cup qualifiers)
5.9., 23:00 CEST, Ecuador vs Chile, Quito
10.9., 0:30 CEST, Uruguay vs Ecuador, Montevideo
Lukas Hradecky and Joel Pohjanpalo (World Cup qualifiers)
4.9., 15:00 CEST, Finland vs Kazakhstan, Helsinki
7.9., 20:45 CEST, France vs Finland, Lyon
Odilon Kossounou (World Cup qualifiers)
3.9., 15:00 CEST, Mozambique vs Ivory Coast, Maputo
6.9., 21:00 CEST, Ivory Coast vs Cameroon, Abidjan
Andrey Lunev (World Cup qualifiers)
4.9., 18:00 CEST, Cyprus vs Russia, Nicosia
7.9., 20:45 CEST, Russia vs Malta, Moscow
Exequiel Palacios (World Cup qualifiers)
5.9., 21:00 CEST, Brazil vs Argentina, Rio de Janeiro
10.9., 01:30 CEST, Argentina vs Bolivia, Buenos Aires
Panos Retsos (World Cup qualifiers)
5.9., 20:45 CEST, Kosovo vs Greece, Pristina
8.9., 20:45 CEST, Greece vs Sweden, Athens
Zidan Sertdemir (U17 friendlies)
3.9., 16:30 CEST, Denmark vs Austria, Skagen
6.9., 11:00 CEST, Denmark vs Austria, Frederikshavn
Florian Wirtz (World Cup qualifiers)
5.9., 20:45 CEST, Germany vs Armenia, Stuttgart
8.9., 20:45 CEST, Iceland vs Germany, Reykjavik
Construction work continues on the ‘Haus der Talente’ on Kurtekottenweg in Leverkusen, where 36 young elite athletes will find a new home from next summer. The building team from Temmink Bau, led by Thomas Wellers, are hard at work. Over the past few days, excavators, wheeled loaders and rollers have removed 2,500 cubic metres of soil to excavate the basement.
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Special events for a special match: Bayer 04 are offering fans a varied programme of events at tonight’s home game in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga against German champions Bayern Munich (kick-off: 18:00 CEST). Alongside a number of interactive activities, events to mark the DFB Sustainability matchday are also planned around the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Read on in the matchday news ahead of the clash with FC Bayern.
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Once again, two Fritz Walter Gold Medals are heading to Leverkusen: Bayer 04 new signing Kennet Eichhorn and Francis Onyeka, a product of the Werkself youth set-up, currently on loan at SV Elversberg, were honoured for their performances during the 2025/26 season. The DFB announced the awards on Monday, 14 September. The Fritz Walter Medal is the most prestigious individual award in German youth football.
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Following two close encounters against VfL Wolfsburg and away to TSG Hoffenheim, the Bayer 04 Women face another top side on Monday night. The Werkself host German double winners Bayern Munich at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium at 18:00 CEST to round off matchday 4 in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. Head coach Roberto Pätzold is counting on another spirited performance from his team.
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