Bundesliga club takes action
Cologne coach has to go – whoever takes over now
Updated March 22, 2026 – 6:48 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Cologne’s sports director avoided making a commitment to the coach after the derby on Saturday. A day later, the club announced his dismissal.
1. FC Köln has parted ways with its head coach Lukas Kwasniok with immediate effect. One day after the spectacular 3-3 draw in the derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach, according to the “Bild” and the “Express”, the club now completed what had been indicated immediately after the game.
When asked, Cologne’s sports director Thomas Keller avoided making a clear commitment to his coach. “It is clear that you have to make some adjustments so that you are in a position to win a football game again,” said Kessler. “There was a lot on offer here today, but unfortunately no three points for 1. FC Köln. That’s why we will now talk about the topics calmly and very rationally and discuss many things with an open mind.”
Cologne is currently in 15th place in the Bundesliga with 26 points, but has only won two of the last 18 games. The Bundesliga newcomer was seventh on matchday nine, had 14 points and had little to do with the relegation battle. Since then, however, things have steadily gone downhill.
At the beginning of March, “Sport Bild” reported that Kwasniok would have to get at least four points from the next three games in order to keep his job. This was to be followed by a defeat against BVB, a draw against HSV and now also a draw in the derby against arch-rival Gladbach. This means Cologne has been without a win for seven games – and Kwasniok has lost his job.
According to reports, assistant coach René Wagner will take over the position for the time being. The 37-year-old came to Cologne in the summer after working for years alongside Steffen Baumgart in Paderborn, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin.
