Sardar Azmoun was the first Black and Red player to start matchday two in the World Cup group stage. The Iran striker started up front against Wales. The Iranians, who lost 6-2 against England on matchday one, had the better chances in this game. Werkself player Azmoun was involved in nearly every attacking move and he appeared to have provided an assist for the opening goal – however the Iran goalscorer was offside when Azmoun played the pass. The Leverkusen player hit the post at the start of the second half (51'). Azmoun, who had been out of action for six weeks before the World Cup, was substituted on 68 minutes.
Iran pressed hard and they had an extra man after 86 minutes. However, it took until the ninth minute of added time before the deadlock was broken with a long-range effort. Iran doubled their lead in a counter-attack for the final score of 2-0 two minutes later. Azmoun and Co. go into the final matchday second in Group D. The game against the USA is on Tuesday 29 November (kick-off: 20.00 CET).
Argentina, with the Werkself player Exequiel Palacios in the line-up, clocked up their first three points on matchday two. Following the surprise 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia in the opening match, the Albiceleste beat Mexico 2-0. Lionel Messi opened the scoring just after the hour mark with Enzo Fernandez settling the victory with a late goal. Palacios came off the bench on 69 minutes to make his World Cup debut.
Argentina, currently second with three points, play group leaders Poland (four points) on matchday three in Group C. The game kicks off at 20.00 CET on Wednesday 30 November.
Matchday two brought a head-to-head in Group A with Jeremie Frimpong’s Netherlands playing Ecuador with Piero Hincapie. The Oranje player Cody Gakpo opened the scoring on six minutes with Enna Valencia netting the leveller at 1-1 just after the restart (49'). Hincapie played the full 90 minutes for Ecuador with Frimpong remaining on the bench.
Both the Netherlands and Ecuador go into the final group match on four points with Senegal just behind on three points. Hosts Qatar, up against the Netherlands at 16.00 CET on 29 November, are pointless to date. Ecuador play Senegal at the same time.
The German Football Association (DFB) confirmed the kick-off times for the second round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal on Thursday. Bayer 04 will meet 1. FC Nürnberg on Wednesday 28 October at 20:45 CET.
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This Wednesday afternoon, the German Football Association (DFB) announced the exact kick-off times for Matchday 6 in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. According to the fixture list, the Bayer 04 Women’s home match against Werder Bremen will be played on Friday, 2 October, at 18:30 CEST.
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Just in time for the start of the school year, everyone was hard at work again at NaturGut Ophoven. For the 21st time, Bayer 04 have supported the annual ‘BioBrotbox’ campaign, which puts together a healthy breakfast for first-year primary school pupils in Leverkusen – and not only contributed 1,904 muesli bars but also plenty of enthusiasm too: Together with the U19 players Burak Kir and Clinton Wilson, Emily Wallrabenstein and Paulina Platner from the Women’s Bundesliga team helped with the packing. The latter was clearly delighted “that Bayer 04 are helping out with regional projects like this and showing their commitment to the local community”.
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A group of about 50 members of the Bayer 04 Football Academy São Paulo visited Leverkusen over the past few days, accompanied by Bayer 04 club legend Paulo Sergio and Luiz Felipe (managing director of academy in São Paulo) for a week full of football, encounters and very special insights. In addition to the Bundesliga away game in Elversberg and the home game against Union Berlin, the visit also featured a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy in Leverkusen and a tour of the Bayer AG facilities. The guests also gained special insights into the club and the world of Bayer 04.
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