Argentina with Exequiel Palacios progressed to the Round of 16 thanks to a 2-0 win against Poland. The victory for the Albiceleste, now with six points, secured top spot in the group. Poland are also through in second place with Mexico going home in third place in Group C.
Argentina play Australia in the Round of 16. The game on Saturday 3 December kicks off at 20.00 CET.
The Netherlands with Bayer 04 player Jeremie Frimpong in the squad finished top of Group A. The Oranje beat the pointless Qatar team 2-0 in their final group match. Frimpong did not play.
The Netherlands ended up with seven points and Senegal in second place with six points also go through to the knockout rounds. Frimpong and Co. face the USA in the last sixteen on Saturday 3 December (kick-off: 16.00 CET).
Piero Hincapie and Ecuador were also in Group A. The South Americans lost 2-1 to Senegal on the third and final matchday thereby losing second spot to the African side. With Hincapie in the defence, again playing the full 90 minutes in his third World Cup game, Ecuador levelled at 1-1 on 67 minutes. However, Hincapie and Co. conceded a second goal three minutes later - and that put an end to their tournament with third place on four points.
Iran with Werkself player Sardar Azmoun in the starting eleven also missed out on qualification for the Round of 16 in the crucial third match. One point against direct rivals USA would have been enough but a goal from Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) on 38 minutes saw the USA (five points) move above Iran (three points) in third place in Group B.
It took exactly 60 minutes for the Werkself to take the lead through a perfectly finished counter-attack by Patrik Schick in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off at Olympiacos. Referring to the meeting in the league phase and the initially squandered opportunities, coach Kasper Hjulmand said afterwards: "I thought: 'Oh no, déjà-vu.'" But after the opening goal, it took just 144 seconds for the Czech to spark more wild celebrations among those in black and red in the Greek cauldron, when Schick nodded in Alejandro Grimaldo's corner. Much to the delight of the Bayer 04 fans, his teammates and his coach, who had warm words for the striker in the aftermath. The Werkself Review.
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Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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