
The clash between the Albiceleste and Croatia remained goalless for over 30 minutes before the Argentina captain Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot (34'). Julian Álvarez doubled the lead before half-time on 39 minutes and the South American striker went on to make it 3-0 on 69 minutes.
Werkself player Exequiel Palacios replaced Rodrigo de Paul on 74 minutes and he helped to secure the result that puts the Albiceleste in a World Cup final for the sixth time.
In the 2022 World Cup final on Saturday 17 December (kick-off: 16.00 CET), Palacios and Co. will play the winners of the second semi-final between France and Morocco. That game kicks off at 20.00 CET tonight Wednesday 14 December.
Sardar Azmoun with Iran and Piero Hincapie with Ecuador went out of the competition at the group stage of the 2022 World Cup. Jeremie Frimpong and the Netherlands lost 3-2 in the quarter-finals against finalists Argentina.

In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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Rieden reloaded: Just like last year, the Bayer 04 Women’s team are spending their summer training camp in this idyllic corner of Bavaria. From this Sunday, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team will be based in Rieden in the Upper Palatinate for a week.
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Following the summer break, most of the players are back in Leverkusen. While two Bayer 04 first-team players are still in action at the World Cup, the players present officially kicked off the new season with fitness assessments. At the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehabilitation and training centre, Robert Andrich, Edmond Tapsoba and the rest of the squad worked up quite a sweat in the sweltering summer heat. New signings Afonso Moreira and Kennet Eichhorn also successfully completed the day’s sessions alongside their new team-mates.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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