From August 21st to 24th
©IMAGO
The first round of the 2026/27 DFB Cup was drawn at the German Football Museum in Dortmund on Saturday from 6 p.m. Referee Deniz Aytekin acted as the “raffle ticket” and the draw manager was once again DFB Vice President Peter Frymuth.
The first round games will be played from August 21st to 24th, 2026. There is an exception for the reigning title holder and champion FC Bayern and runner-up Borussia Dortmund. Due to the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup being scheduled for August 22nd at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK (8:30 p.m.), Munich and BVB only have to compete on September 1st and 2nd, respectively.
The first round of the DFB Cup 2026/27 in detail:
SC St. Tönis – Eintracht Frankfurt
Erzgebirge Aue – TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Eintracht Braunschweig – Union Berlin
Eintracht Trier – RB Leipzig
HEBC Hamburg – Borussia Dortmund
TSV Schott Mainz – Borussia Mönchengladbach
Fortuna Düsseldorf – SC Freiburg
Rot-Weiss Essen – FC St. Pauli
SG Sonnenhof Großaspach – Arminia Bielefeld
SSV Jeddeloh II – 1. FC Heidenheim
SV Wehen Wiesbaden – Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Hallescher FC – FC Schalke 04
Energy Cottbus – FC Augsburg
VfB 1921 Krieschow – 1. FSV Mainz 05
SpVgg Greuther Fürth – VfL Bochum
SV Hemelingen – Hannover 96
SC Preußen Münster – Karlsruher SC
1. FC Saarbrücken – Hertha BSC
FC Viktoria Cologne – 1. FC Nuremberg
MSV Duisburg – SV Elversberg
VfL Osnabrück – FC Bayern Munich
Lüneburg SK Hansa – SV Werder Bremen
SC Verl – Hamburger SV
Hansa Rostock – VfB Stuttgart
Carl Zeiss Jena – SV Darmstadt 98
Bahlinger SC – 1. FC Magdeburg
TSV 1860 Munich – Holstein Kiel
SV Waldhof Mannheim – 1. FC Kaiserslautern
SV Westfalia Rhynern – Dynamo Dresden
This article will be continually updated with all drawn encounters.
DFB Cup: The field of participants and the route to the final in Berlin
There are two pots with 32 teams each in the draw. All 2025/26 Bundesliga clubs are represented in the professional pot, as well as the 14 best-placed clubs from the 2nd Bundesliga. The amateur pot also includes some professional teams (places 15 to 18 in the 2nd league) as well as the four best teams from the 3rd league. The field of participants is completed by the 21 state cup winners, plus three teams from associations with the most clubs in DFB games.
According to the German Football Association, 13 clubs from the 3rd league are taking part for the first time – never before in the history of the competition have there been more. The previous record was twelve participating third division teams in 2012/2013 and 2024/2025. In the debut season 2008/2009 there were only six.
The final will take place as usual in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, this time on May 29th, 2027. The second round will take place on May 27th/28th. October, the round of 16 is for the 1st/2nd. scheduled for December. The quarter-finals will follow next year in the window from February 2nd to 10th, while the semi-finals will be decided on February 20th/21st. April fall.