Piero Hincapie and Ecuador beat hosts Qatar 2-0 in the opening match in the World Cup. Ecuador's star striker Enner Valencia netted a brace (16', 31') for the South Americans on Sunday night with a goal from the 33-year-old on three minutes ruled out due to an offside decision. Hincapie played the full 90 minutes and he helped his team keep a clean sheet.
The next game for Ecuador in Group A is against the Netherlands with Bayer 04 player Jeremie Frimpong (25 November, 17.00 CET). The final group match against Senegal is four days later with the kick-off at 16.00 CET.
Jeremie Frimpong and the Netherlands also picked up three points at the start of the World Cup. The Oranje won the opening match against Senegal 2-0. Cody Gakpo on 84 minutes and Davy Klaassen nine minutes into added time scored the late goals.
In the clash of the two winners on matchday one in Group A, as already mentioned, on 25 November at 17.00 CET the Dutch team play Ecuador with Piero Hincapie. The Netherlands then play hosts Qatar four days later with a 16.00 CET kick-off.
Sardar Azmoun was another Leverkusen player to start the World Cup on Monday. The striker with Iran was on the wrong end of a 6-2 scoreline against England. Azmoun, who has been out of action since the end of September due to a muscle injury, came off the bench on 77 minutes with England 5-1 up and he hit the bar eight minutes into added time.
Azmoun and Co. play Wales in their next match on 25 November with the kick-off at 11.00 CET, and Iran finish their group matches against the USA (29 November, 20.00 CET).
Exequiel Palacios, with Argentina, is the fourth Bayer 04 player to start the World Cup tournament. The Albiceleste played Saudi Arabia in their opening match in Group C – and they suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat against the underdogs. Lionel Messi gave Argentina the lead from the penalty spot on ten minutes but Saudi Arabia turned the game round after the restart with a double whammy (48', 53'). Werkself player Palacios did not play in this game.
Argentina next play Mexico on 26 November at 20.00 CET with the third and final group match against Poland (20.00 CET) following four days later.
The fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 begins for the #B04eSports team this Thursday, 12 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), with the online preliminary round kicking off against VfL Wolfsburg, Eintracht Braunschweig and SpVgg Greuther Fürth. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Márton Szép from the Bayer 04 Leverkusen U19 team is moving back to his home country with immediate effect to join ETO FC, the current leaders of the top flight in Hungary.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will once again be without their captain. Friederike Repohl suffered a partial tear of the inner ligament in her right knee in last Saturday's Bundesliga match at Eintracht Frankfurt (0-1).
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The Werkself host Bayern Munich at the BayArena on matchday 26 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The match is on Saturday, 14 March, with the kick-off at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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