AUDIO: VfL Osnabrück has been promoted (1 min)
Third league
As of: May 2, 2026 7:31 p.m
It’s done. VfL Osnabrück is confirmed to be promoted to the Second Bundesliga – without even playing! Because Rot-Weiss Essen lost 1:6 (0:2) at VfB Stuttgart II, the “Purple-Whites” are through.
When the Essen disaster against the VfB youth team became apparent early on Saturday evening, the VfL players were on their way to their game on Sunday at Wehen Wiesbaden (4.30 p.m., in the NDR live ticker). More precisely: on the highway in the bus.
And the mood got better and better from minute to minute – with every Stuttgart goal. At 6:26 p.m. there was the final, frenetic cheering. With the final whistle it was definitely clear: Osnabrück could no longer be denied promotion to the Second Bundesliga. VfL is now guaranteed one of the first two direct promotion places.
“A promotion that I hope I experienced for the first and last time,” said coach Timo Schultz shortly after arriving in Wiesbaden on Saturday. “You’re driving on the bus and you realize relatively quickly: Stuttgart is going to win. And when we’re standing in the parking lot, the thing is over the finish line.”
Despite the game on Sunday, his team was given permission to celebrate: “We’ll still let it rip tonight. I won’t be able to catch the boys anymore.”
5,000 VfL fans in Wiesbaden
The game on Sunday in Wiesbaden will be a big VfL party even before kick-off. Around 5,000 Osnabrück fans will accompany their favorites away.
Schultz joked that there could also be short-term failures: “The first guys came to me and said: ‘maximum five minutes tomorrow.’ I’ll use the sweating to look deeply into the boys’ eyes and decide who can actually play.” Of course, just to add that the boys will definitely “step on the gas” – on Sunday as well as perhaps the night before.
