News (engl.)

SV Wehen Wiesbaden have been handed the toughest test of all in the first round of the upcoming DFB-Pokal campaign. The third-division team will host Bundesliga champions and record cup winners FC Bayern München. Last season’s victors VfB Stuttgart travel to face second-tier side Eintracht Braunschweig. This was decided by Sunday’s DFB-Pokal first-round draw at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. Track and field athlete Owen Ansah acted performed the draw organised by DFB vice-president Peter Frymuth.

The past season’s cup finalists and surprise package Arminia Bielefeld will face Werder Bremen, after the third-division champions eliminated the Bundesliga club in the quarter-finals only last term. Borussia Dortmund will have to live up to their role as favourites in a clash between two traditional western clubs when they take on third-division club Rot-Weiss Essen, while fourth-tier Eintracht Norderstedt host Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli in a northern battle. Top-flight runners-up Bayer Leverkusen travel to fourth-division side SG Sonnenhof Großaspach, as FV Illertissen from the same tier and second-division 1. FC Nürnberg face off in an all-Bavarian clash.

Fourth-tier team Blau-Weiß Lohne are set to face SpVgg Greuther Fürth. BW head coach Uwe Möhrle: “We are proud to be taking part. We had hoped to sell a lot of tickets and will take it as it comes, but there is sure to be a party atmosphere in Lohne.” SV Sandhausen, recently relegated from the third division, will host Bundesliga club RB Leipzig. Sandhausen head coach Olaf Janßen: “Leipzig are of course a team full of quality – everyone knows that. It’s great to be able to take on a team like them. The stadium will be full, and the lads will give it their all.”

Fifth-tier teams handed eye-catching ties

The five remaining fifth-division clubs have also been drawn against big names. FV Engers 07 will host Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, a five-time Pokal winner (most recently in 2018). Competition newcomers RSV Eintracht 1949 from Stahnsdorf in Brandenburg will face second-division side 1. FC Kaiserslautern, while fifth-tier SV Hemelingen, also making their first appearance in the DFB-Pokal, are set to take on VfL Wolfsburg. Hemelingen head coach Günter Tuncel: “This is the first time in the club’s history that we are competing, so we’ve already made history and want to continue to do so.” SV Atlas Delmenhorst will also welcome Borussia Mönchengladbach, a Bundesliga club steeped in tradition, and FK Pirmasens will face Bundesliga returnees Hamburger SV.

The first-round fixtures will be contested between 15th and 18th August, one week before the start of the Bundesliga season. The ties involving Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart will not be played until 26th and 27th August, since they go head-to-head for the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup on 16th August. The DFB-Pokal final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin will be played on 23rd May 2026.

Full overview of the first-round fixtures

Dynamo Dresden - 1. FSV Mainz 05

Arminia Bielefeld - Werder Bremen

1. FC Schweinfurt 05 - Fortuna Düsseldorf

SV Wehen Wiesbaden - FC Bayern München

SG Sonnenhof Großaspach - Bayer 04 Leverkusen

1. FC Saarbrücken - 1. FC Magdeburg

1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig - FC Schalke 04

Bahlinger SC - 1. FC Heidenheim

Hansa Rostock - TSG Hoffenheim

Blau-Weiß Lohne - SpVgg Greuther Fürth

SV Sandhausen - RB Leipzig

Energie Cottbus - Hannover 96

FC 08 Homburg - Holstein Kiel

SSV Jahn Regensburg - 1. FC Köln

Preußen Münster - Hertha BSC

FC Gütersloh - 1. FC Union Berlin

Sportfreunde Lotte - SC Freiburg

BFC Dynamo - VfL Bochum

Eintracht Norderstedt - FC St. Pauli

VfB Lübeck - SV Darmstadt 98

FV Engers 07 - Eintracht Frankfurt

FV Illertissen - 1. FC Nürnberg

ZFC Meuselwitz - Karlsruher SC

Eintracht Braunschweig - VfB Stuttgart

Rot-Weiss Essen - Borussia Dortmund

RSV Eintracht 1949 - 1. FC Kaiserslautern

Viktoria Köln - SC Paderborn 07

SV Atlas Delmenhorst - Borussia Mönchengladbach

Hallescher FC - FC Augsburg

FK Pirmasens - Hamburger SV

SV Hemelingen - VfL Wolfsburg

SSV Ulm 1846 Fußball - SV Elversberg