On the couch
The party continues: FC Schalke are early second division champions
May 3, 2026 – 4:43 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
FC Schalke made it clear that they would be promoted to the Bundesliga on Saturday evening. Now the club can look forward to their next success.
FC Schalke 04 can look forward to the championship in the 2nd Bundesliga ahead of schedule. One day after the Revierklub secured promotion with a 1-0 win against Fortuna Düsseldorf, SV Elversberg clearly won 5-1 in the pursuit duel against SC Paderborn, who had previously been in second place.
As a result, Schalke is now eight points ahead of the new runner-up Elversberg with two match days to go and can no longer be pushed out of first place. As with the last promotion in 2022, Schalke returns to the Bundesliga as second division champions. On the last match day, the “Royal Blues” will receive the trophy in front of their home crowd after the game against Eintracht Braunschweig.
“A perfect weekend for us! Being the best team in the league says a lot about our season,” said coach Miron Muslic after Elversberger’s victory. “A fantastic weekend for Schalke and our city,” said professional football director Youri Mulder. “The team has worked for this all year and has gotten better and better.”
Sports director and championship maker Frank Baumann also raved: “Two game days before the end of the season, this is a great success. 67 points after 32 games – no team has scored that many in ten years. That’s why the second division championship is absolutely deserved.” But the team still doesn’t want to let up: “We want to play well in the two remaining games and then we’re looking forward to celebrating with our fans,” said Muslic.
