
In addition to Kristin Kögel and Katharina Piljic, who made their debuts for the new junior team in October, who have been called up by Germany coach Kathrin Peter, the two U20 World Cup participants Sofie Zdebel and Loreen Bender plus central defender Selina Ostermeier are in the squad of 23 players. That means the Werkself are providing the most players along with Bundesliga rivals Eintracht Frankfurt. Defender Julia Mickenhagen, who also made her debut for the U23 team in October, is again on standby. For the first time, the same also applies to Kögel, who was recently captain of the U23s, in terms of the senior Germany side. The midfielder is on standby for the squad under new Germany coach Christian Wück for the internationals against Switzerland and Italy.





In the 2024/25 campaign, Germany and nine other countries are involved in European fixtures for U23 international women's teams. This is open to players born on or after 1 January 2002. In addition, up to five older players can be selected, which means Kögel and Ostermeier are in contention.
After the coming weekend, featuring the matches in the DFB Pokal Round of 16, the squad will meet up in Bad Gögging on Monday, 25 November. On Thursday, 28 November (kick-off: 18.30 CET), the Germany U23 team will play the first of two friendlies against Spain in Munich followed four days later by an away game against Belgium in Tubize on Monday, 2 December (16.00 CET).

Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 4-0 victory in the friendly match against KRC Genk...
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In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...