For Julian Brandt, who played just under 70 minutes in the friendly against Austria on Saturday, it will be his first big, international tournament after he failed to make the final squad for Euro 2016. Last summer, the 22-year-old was part of the 'Mannschaft' that won the Confederations Cup in Russia. Löw said the Werkself number 10 had shown "good potential" and "also worked well here at the training camp." The offensive midfielder will wear the number 20 shirt at the World Cup in Russia – as he will in Germany's final friendly against Saudi Arabia at the BayArena on Friday (8 June, 19.30 CET).
Not included in the 23-man squad – consisting of three goalkeepers and 20 outfield players – are Leroy Sané (Manchester City) and Nils Petersen (SC Freiburg) plus the other two Werkself players Jonathan Tah and Bernd Leno. "There are certainly better days in the life of the national coach than having to send home four great players who deserve to be at the World Cup. We are, and remain, confident of their ability and quality. I've spoken to the four players and they're very, very disappointed. It wasn't an easy decision for us to make," read the statement from Germany coach Joachim Löw.
"Both Kevin Trapp and Bernd Leno are good goalkeepers. We opted for Bernd in the Euros and this time for Kevin. Both are at the same high level," said Löw in explaining his choice of third goalkeeper after the return of captain Manuel Neuer in time following a long injury lay-off to be first choice ahead of Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona). The World Cup winner of 2014 showed sympathy for the Werkself number one: "Above all, I'm sorry for Bernd that he has to leave now. We all know he's a brilliant keeper," said Neuer.
Most experts predicted in recent days that Jonathan Tah would not be in the final squad – and the Germany coach echoed that on Monday: "He was a bit of back-up for Jérôme Boateng but he has progressed well in his time with us. He's had a good season. He's a player for the future as he's a great talent. Like Nils Petersen and Leroy Sané, he'll be back in September as it's well worth carrying on working with these players."
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss at VfL Wolfsburg on the 20th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against FC Bayern Munich on Matchday 26 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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Bayer 04 were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Bayern Munich in an eventful Matchday 26 fixture in the Bundesliga. Aleix Garcia had given the Werkself the lead inside six minutes, but Bayern levelled in the second half through Luis Diaz, despite Nicolas Jackson having been send off before the break. Diaz was then dismissed himself as Leverkusen pushed for a winner, which failed to materialise as Jonas Hofmann saw a late goal ruled out.
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Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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