In front of a sell-out crowd at the Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian capital, England took an early lead on four minutes when Kieran Trippier scored direct from a free kick and went into the break with a 1-0 lead. The former Borussia Dortmund player Ivan Perisic put Croatia level on 68 minutes. The score was 1-1 on 90 minutes so the game went into extra time. The two sides fought to gain the upper hand but it was the team that finished third in 1998 that came out on top: Former Bayern Munich striker Mario Mandzukic netted the winner at 2-1 in extra time on 109 minutes – to put Croatia, with the former Bayer 04 pros Domagoj Vida (Besiktas) and Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), through to the final.
Croatia, under coach Zlatko Dalic, will face France on Sunday at 17.00 CET after the European Championship runners-up beat Belgium 1-0 in the other semi-final on Tuesday night. Jedvaj's Croatia team now have the opportunity to win the World Cup for the first time in the final against France.
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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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Bundesliga fixture between Hamburger SV and Bayer 04 Leverkusen has been postponed at short notice.
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Bayer 04 face Hamburger SV for the first time in almost eight years. Although the Hanseatic city team are often below par on the road, they are regularly in top form in front of their own fans. In particular, 18-year-old shooting star Luka Vuskovic is proving to be a real bonus for Merlin Polzin's team, both in attack and defence. However, that should not scare the Werkself: Not only was the last defeat against the newly promoted team 17 games ago, but Kasper Hjulmand's players are in with a chance of securing their fifth win in six games against HSV. Today’s matchday news.
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