The final World Cup qualifier in the era of Joachim Löw ended in an unexpected defeat for Germany. The German team found it hard going against a well-organised opposition, but Leon Goretzka (9') and Serge Gnabry (31') missed good chances. North Macedonia kept pressing and took the lead just before half-time (45+2') through Goran Pandev (Genoa).
Germany equalised just after the hour mark with captain Ilkay Gündogan converting a penalty but they were unable to turn the game round – on the contrary: After substitute Timo Werner missed a great chance for Germany (80'), the North Macedonian striker Eljif Elmas (Napoli) rounded off an impressive attack by the underdogs to make it 2-1 to ensure a sensational result (85'). Germany are now third in Group J. As in the previous two games the two Werkself players Jonathan Tah and Florian Wirtz did not play against North Macedonia.
The next match for Germany is the opening game in the European Championship in the summer. Germany play World Cup winners France in Munich on 15 June.
After scoring in the 3-1 win against the Faroe Islands, all did not go to plan for Aleksandar Dragovic in the international against Denmark. The Werkself defender did play the full 90 minutes in his 89th international but he was on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline with Austria against Denmark. Denmark scored all four goals in the second half through Andreas Skov Olsen (58', 73'), Joakim Maehle (63') and the former Bundesliga player Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg (67').
Lennart Grill has reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship with the Germany U21 team. The goalless draw against Romania in the final match of the group stage was enough for Germany on Tuesday to qualify for the knockout rounds as runners-up behind the Netherlands with the finals to be played from 31 May to 6 June. The team under coach Stefan Kuntz will play Denmark in the quarter-final on 31 May after the Scandinavians surprisingly ended up top of their group ahead of France. As in the first two group matches, Grill was on the bench against Romania.
The end of the international break did not end well for Patrik Schick either. The Werkself striker with the Czech national team lost 1-0 in Wales on Tuesday. Schick, who was unable to play in the 1-1 draw with Belgium at the weekend due to Czechia being classified as a "virus variant area", was in the starting line-up but was shown a red card at the start of the second half (48). Wales, who also finished with ten players after Connor Roberts was sent off (77'), won the game late on with a goal from Manchester United striker Daniel James (81').
On Monday, Edmond Tapsoba with the Burkina Faso national team won the final group match in the African Cup qualifiers with a 1-0 victory over South Sudan. The Werkself defender played the full 90 minutes with the winner scored by Bertrand Traoré of Aston Villa on 50 minutes. Burkina Faso finished top of their qualifying group unbeaten and will be in the finals in Cameroon next January and February.
A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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So here we go again: Four weeks after the 2-0 home win in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, Olympiacos host the Werkself at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis this Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET - live on Werkself Radio) for the second encounter in a short space of time. It's the first leg of the knockout play-offs, and it's likely to be another high-intensity clash in a fiery atmosphere.
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The Werkself impressed in the 4-0 home win over FC St. Pauli with a performance that pleased head coach Kasper Hjulmand that had previously being missing and which he now wants to "use as a boost". Defenders Jarell Quansah and Edmond Tapsoba in particular once again stood firm at the back and scored at the other end - the latter now has the most goal involvements by a centre-back in the top five leagues. However, the Bayer 04 players are already looking forward to the forthcoming fixtures with a hunger for success and optimism. The Werkself review of the game on Carnival Saturday.
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