Semi-finals of the DFB Cup
Drama in Stuttgart: VfB follows Bayern into the final
Updated April 23, 2026 – 11:36 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The game between the two top teams from Baden-Württemberg is quickly developing into a cup fight. The hosts despair for a long time. Then things get dramatic in the final phase.
VfB Stuttgart has reached the final of the DFB Cup. The Swabians won a hard-fought semi-final against their Baden-Württemberg rivals SC Freiburg on Thursday evening 2-1 (1-1, 0-1) after extra time and, as defending champions, will now face FC Bayern Munich in the final on May 23rd in Berlin.
Maximilian Eggestein had given the guests the lead in what was at times a heated, hard-fought game (28′), and national player Deniz Undav scored the equalizer for VfB (70′). Despite numerous other good chances on both sides, no further goals were scored in regular time. Even the highly dramatic extra time remained without any further goals until the last minute, despite many opportunities. Then Tiago Tomás came along and scored with a trick to give VfB a win (119′).
After the fan camp had gotten the teams in the mood, smoke from the red glowing pyrotechnics on the VfB side delayed kick-off by a few minutes. The game started heatedly on the pitch. After a good quarter of an hour, four players – two on each side – had picked up yellow cards.
“We have to show that we want to go to Berlin. We want to be courageous and offensive,” Hoeneß asked Sky before kick-off. But in front of national coach Julian Nagelsmann, the VfB offensive around national striker Undav initially struggled against the attentive Freiburg defense.
Freiburg was the first to appear dangerous in front of the goal – and immediately demanded a penalty. Midfielder Eggestein stumbled when Angelo Stiller made contact; for referee Tobias Welz, that wasn’t enough to blow the whistle. The starting point of the 1-0 ten minutes later was a corner that the VfB defense cleared centrally. Freiburg’s Matthias Ginter headed to Eggestein, who poked the ball past VfB goalkeeper Alexander Nübel.
VfB hasn’t had a chance to score so far. Only in the minutes before the break did the hosts show promising offensive moves, but Ermedin Demirović, Jamie Leweling and Undav missed.
In contrast to the sometimes disjointed first half, the Baden-Württemberg duel gained more and more momentum after the break. Driven by their fans, the Stuttgart team pushed for an equalizer, but they weren’t rewarded for a long time. When Stiller did score, the goal was not recognized. Demirović was previously offside.
Only Undav made the fans cheer with his low shot into the left corner. With an increase in chances and two hits on the post, VfB was closer to victory, but Freiburg’s substitute and cup goalkeeper Florian Müller made brilliant saves several times. A Freiburg goal from Lucas Höler at the start of extra time did not count. When it was already heading to a penalty shootout, Tomas decided the game with a strong move.