Charles Aránguiz would have loved to hold the trophy for the South American tournament aloft for a third time in succession after 2016 and 2017 – now the 30-year-old Chilean is just left with the third and fourth place play-off in this year’s Copa. In front of around 33,000 spectators in Porto Alegre, the winners of Group C suffered a surprise defeat against Peru who finished behind Brazil and Argentina in Group A but progressed to the quarter-finals as the best third-placed team. The goals for Peru were scored by Edison Flores (21'), Yoshimar Yotun (38') and the former Bayern Munich player Paolo Guerrero (90+ 1'). In the fourth minute of added time, Chile's Eduardo Vargas missed the chance to score a consolation goal for La Roja when he failed to convert a penalty – the VAR had identified a foul in the penalty area on Aránguiz who played for the full 90 minutes.
The third and fourth place play-off between Chile and Argentina is on Saturday (21.00 CET) in a repeat of the final of 2017 – Brazil and underdogs Peru face each other in the final on Sunday (22.00 CET).
While Aránguiz still has one game to play before his well-earned summer break, Leon Bailey can head off on holiday now. Winning his fourth cap, the 21-year-old was unable to prevent the Reggae Boyz losing 3-1 to the Gold Cup holders the USA in the semi-finals. The Werkself number seven, who produced a lively performance on the left wing at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville for over 90 minutes, did provide the cross for Shamar Nicholson to make it 2-1 on 69 minutes. That was too little for the Jamaicans, who were prone to making mistakes, against a confident USA side with their goals scored by Weston McKennie (9') and the former Dortmund player Christian Pulisic (52', 87'). In Sunday’s final, USA play Mexico including the former Bayer 04 pro Chicharito. There is no third and fourth place play-off in the Gold Cup.
The third Bayer 04 player still still away on international duty is Marc Lamti with the Tunisia U19 side at the Africa Cup. Tunisia went through to the last 16 on Tuesday night with a third draw in their third group game against Mauritania putting them second in Group E. As in the last two games, Lamti was on the bench for 90 minutes – but he can be hopeful of making appearance in the Round of 16 match against Ghana on Monday (8 June, 21.00 CET).
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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