As expected, Germany coach Joachim Löw called up Bayer 04 youngster Florian Wirtz on Friday for his squad for the three forthcoming World Cup qualifiers. This is the first call-up to the Germany senior squad for the 17-year-old midfielder.
Rudi Völler on the call-up: “It’s great for Florian and also for us as a club, of course, that he can get the chance to be in the Germany squad. Although he is at the start of his development as a 17-year-old, this call-up shows how far Florian has already come. He’s earned it.”
And Simon Rolfes also shared his view: "To my mind, it won't be the last call-up for Florian Wirtz. Flo has performed consistently this season in spite of his young age. It's impressive that he has developed into a key player for Bayer 04."
The opening game for Germany including Wirtz and fellow Leverkusen teammate Jonathan Tah is almost on the doorstep: The Löw team play Iceland in Duisburg on Thursday, 25 March. That game is followed three days later by the match against Romania in Bucharest. Germany end the international break back in Duisburg. They will face North Macedonia on Wednesday, 31 March. All three games kick off at 20.45 CET.
The forthcoming U21 European Championship takes the young Leverkusen players Lennart Grill (22) and Moussa Diaby (21) to South Eastern Europe. The group stage of the U21 European Championship is being played in Slovenia and Hungary from next week. Grill is with the Germany team, Diaby with France. The European Championship group games will be played between 24 and 31 March with all Germany U21 matches live on ProSieben. The knockout round will be played from 31 to 6 June. That will involve the teams finishing first and second in the four groups.
The coronavirus pandemic has had far-reaching effects on the forthcoming international break. That means Bayer 04 international players will not take part in games being played in so-called "virus variant areas". This means, for example, centre forward Patrik Schick, who has scored twice for the Werkself in successive Bundesliga games, will only play for the Czech Republic in the World Cup qualifier against Estonia, which has been moved to Lublin in Poland. Schick will not be involved in the following matches in the Czech capital Prague against Belgium or in Cardiff against Wales.
Aleksandar Dragovic is travelling to the capital of his home country for two World Cup qualifiers. The defender will play for Austria in Vienna against the Faroe Islands and, three days later, Denmark.
Edmond Tapsoba is set to play for Burkina Faso in two Africa Cup qualifiers. The opponents are Uganda and South Sudan.
International fixtures involving Werkself players
Jonathan Tah and Florian Wirtz (Germany):
Thursday, 25 March (20.45 CET, Duisburg): Germany v Iceland (World Cup qualifier, Group J)
Sunday, 28 March (20.45 CET, Bucharest): Romania v Germany (World Cup qualifier, Group J)
Wednesday, 31 March (20.45 CEST, Duisburg): Germany v North Macedonia (World Cup qualifier, Group J)
Lennart Grill (Germany U21):
Wednesday, 24 March (21.00 CET, Székesfehérvár): Hungary U21 v Germany U21 (Euros group stage)
Saturday, 27 March (21.00 CET, Székesfehérvár): Germany U21 v Netherlands U21 (Euros group stage)
Tuesday, 30 March (18.00 CEST, Budapest): Germany U21 v Romania U21 (Euros group stage)
Aleksandar Dragovic (Austria):
Sunday, 28 March (20.45 CET, Vienna): Austria v Faroe Islands (World Cup qualifier, Group F)
Wednesday, 31 March (20.45 CEST, Vienna): Austria v Denmark (World Cup qualifier, Group F)
Patrik Schick (Czech Republic):
Wednesday, 24 March (20.45 CET, Tallin): Estonia v Czech Republic (World Cup qualifier, Group E)
Moussa Diaby (France U21):
Thursday, 25 March (21.00 CET, Szombathely): France U21 v Denmark U21 (Euros group stage)
Sunday, 28 March (21.00 CEST, Szombathely): Russia U21 v France U21 (Euros group stage)
Wednesday, 31 March (18.00 CEST, Györ): Iceland U21 v France U21 (Euros group stage)
Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso):
Wednesday, 24 March (14.00 CET, Kampala): Uganda v Burkina Faso (Africa Cup qualifier, Group B)
Monday, 29 March (18.00 CET, Ouagadougou): Burkina Faso v South Sudan (Africa Cup qualifier, Group B)
Bayer 04 host 1. FC Köln at the BayArena in the final home game of 2025 . Today’s match on Saturday, 13 December kicks off at 18:30.30 pm. The Werkself are looking for three points against 1. FC Köln, who are without a win in four games but they do have a shooting star in their ranks up front. The Bayer 04 Volunteering Award will be presented at the derby against the club from Cologne and another fan club will be honoured for many years of loyalty under the Cross. The matchday news.
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The German Football Association (DFB) has officially recognised Bayer 04 as a women’s talent support centre. As announced by the DFB, 1 FC Köln, Union Berlin, RB Leipzig and Hamburger SV are also certified as performance or talent support centres from 1 January 2026 in addition to the Werkself.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 0-1 loss at Werder Bremen on the 13th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Bayer 04 Women suffered a setback at the halfway point of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. In a battle of the chasing pack between the teams in third and fourth, coach Roberto Pätzold's side lost 1-0 at SV Werder Bremen in a physical contest. The result leaves the Werkself on 22 points after 13 matchdays and now four points behind Bremen.
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The Bayer 04 U19s will face Villarreal CF in Spain in the 2025/26 UEFA Youth League round of 16. That was the result of the draw made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday afternoon.
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