News blog about 1. FC Cologne
FC winters internationally – now a top opponent awaits
Updated 12/10/2025 – 5:30 p.mReading time: 44 minutes
1. FC Köln is playing first class again this season. In the news ticker on t-online you will find all the important reports about the “billy goats”.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
The A-Juniors of the 1. FC Cologne keep having fun! Thanks to a 4-1 win in the second leg at FC Midtjylland, the U19s of the 1st division wintered. FC Cologne in the Youth League. Fynn Schenten gave coach Stefan Ruthenbeck’s team the lead in the 25th minute. Immediately after the break, Malik Pimpong equalized for the Danes, but just two minutes later Kristiyan Irmiev made it 2-1 for FC. Schenten and Lennard Völp once again ensured the clear result in the end.
This means that the Cologne team can now hope for a real top team in the next round. The round of 16, which will take place on February 3rd and 4th, 2026, will be against one of the teams that finished seventh to 16th in the Champions League. Possible opponents are Inter Milan, Liverpool FC or FC Barcelona. The draw will take place in Nyon on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
1. FC Köln started preparing for the derby on Saturday evening at Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Tuesday without any further injury concerns. Tom Krauß, who had to be substituted against St. Pauli, was able to train normally with coach Lukas Kwasniok’s team at the start of the week.
Meanwhile, Dominique Heintz is making progress after his muscle injury in the game against Werder Bremen. The central defender went for a run on Tuesday morning and then completed an individual program. However, it currently seems unlikely that there will be enough time for him to play until the derby.
The three other injured central defenders Luca Kilian, Timo Hübers and Joel Schmied were meanwhile working in the rehabilitation area. Youngster Youssoupha Niang, who had been out since the summer training camp in Bad Waltersdorf due to a shoulder injury, completed parts of the team training for the first time on Tuesday. The young striker should be carefully introduced to the strain again in the coming weeks and months.