
The two other group matches for Germany are against Portugal on Thursday (19.30 CET) and Austria on Sunday (19.30 CET). The teams in Group B are Croatia, Holland, England and France with the top two teams in each group going through to the semi-finals.
Hopes are high that Germany will perform well at the Euros on their own turf. “The Euros at home are a big target and a dream for the team,” declared Germany coach Guido Streichsbier who dropped five players from the provisional 23-man squad at the end of the training camp in Schladming to achieve the final 18-man squad. “I’m optimistic we will able to achieve our targets,” said Streichsbier, “we want to go all the way.” The minimum target is fifth place as the top five teams at the Euros will qualify for next year’s Under-20 World Cup.
The captain is one of the most experienced players in the team: Benjamin Henrichs has already clocked up nine Bundesliga appearances for Bayer 04 including five starts last season. The Hoffenheim striker Philipp Ochs (13 games) and Mainz midfielder Suat Serdar (twelve) have also played in the top flight. Defender Lukas Boeder is waiting for his first outing in Germany’s first division but he has been on the Werkself bench for a number of games.
Attraction of home stage
While Henrichs is a full back for Bayer 04 he plays in midfield for Germany. Along with Boeder. he and his Germany team-mates are very ambitious. “We’re in a tough group but that was to be expected given the quality of the teams involved. There’s huge pressure when you play a tournament in your own country but the stage provides a great incentive to perform well,” said Benny Henrichs. There will be no shortage of support at the matches. The opening game against Italy on Monday, the match against Portugal in Großaspach on 14 July and the final in Sinsheim on 24 July are already sold out.
24. Juli ins Sinsheim sind bereits ausverkauft.


The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 on Matchday 24 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...

A late goal secured a point for Bayer 04 at home to FSV Mainz 05 in a match that saw the Black and Reds dominant in the second half. Despite lots of possession, the Werkself initially found few gaps and fell behind after 67 minutes when Sheraldo Becker scored in a Mainz counter-attack. In the closing stages, Leverkusen threw everything forward once again and equalised through Jarell Quansah (88').
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