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
In the first episode of the new interview series "A New Chapter", Werkself defender Jarell Quansah reflects on his first few months under the Cross and speaks about his journey from England to Leverkusen. Having come through the ranks at Liverpool, a new chapter began for Quansah in the summer at Bayer 04 — with new objectives, fresh challenges and much ambition. In the video, the centre-back speaks about his development as a player and person, about the courage to leave your own comfort zone, and about what it means for him to be part of an international team in a different country. Honest, reflective and full of motivation — just like the start of his Werkself career.
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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...
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Due to the last-minute postponement of the Bundesliga match between Hamburg and the Werkself on Tuesday, 13 January, Bayer 04 will reimburse the ticket price to all 3,500 fans who had already travelled to Hamburg as a sign of appreciation. The tickets remain valid for the rescheduled match (date not yet set).
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