2. Bundesliga Season Preview: What Fans Can Expect

The 2026/27 2. Bundesliga season preview looks ahead to a season featuring a high concentration of prominent clubs. Eighteen teams, 306 league matches, plus four promotion/relegation matches: It’s the 53rd edition of Germany’s second division, and once again, it’s one where anything is possible.

The season kicks off on August 7, 2026, three weeks before the start of the Bundesliga. Leading up to the season finale on May 23, 2027, there will be 34 matchdays, a winter break, and a midweek match in March. What makes the league so hard to predict is that, historically, there have often been only a few points separating the promotion race from the relegation battle in the 2. Bundesliga.

This preview breaks down who’s new to the league, who we expect to be at the top, who’s in danger, and which statistics, dates, and rule changes will shape the season.

Five clubs are now back in the second division—three have been promoted from the top division, and two have been relegated from the bottom division.

The teams relegated from the Bundesliga:

• VfL Wolfsburg: After 29 years of uninterrupted Bundesliga membership, the club is back in the second division for the first time since 1997. Their relegation was only sealed in the relegation playoff against SC Paderborn.
• 1. FC Heidenheim: Three years in the top flight, including a stint in European competition, have ended with a drop to the second division.
• FC St. Pauli: Back in familiar territory after two seasons in the Bundesliga.

The teams promoted from the 3rd League:

• VfL Osnabrück: Third-division champions and back in the second division after two years.
• Energie Cottbus: The most emotional return of the season: Twelve years after its last second-division match, FCE is back; in the meantime, the Lusatians even played in the regional league. Tolcay Cigerci (17 goals, 13 assists) and Erik Engelhardt (22 goals) practically single-handedly carried the team to promotion.

Champion FC Schalke 04, SV Elversberg (which earned its first-ever promotion to the Bundesliga), and relegation playoff winner SC Paderborn have all been promoted. Preußen Münster and Fortuna Düsseldorf were relegated to the 3. Liga.

Wolfsburg boasts the league’s most expensive roster. Dieter Hecking took over as sporting director, and Tobias Strobl joined as head coach from SC Verl. On the transfer market, the Lower Saxony club made a splash with the signings of Fabian Reese (€8 million transfer fee from Hertha BSC), Robert Glatzel, Fraser Hornby, and Elvis Rexhbecaj.

Close behind, Hannover 96 and Hertha BSC Berlin are considered hot promotion contenders. Hannover 96 is the perennial contender: Last season, 96 was just two points behind Elversberg and Paderborn in the promotion race. Hertha BSC is entering its fourth consecutive season in the second division with high-profile departures and, so far, only one notable signing (Oluwaseun Adewumi from FC Burnley). Heidenheim, on the other hand, has the most intact structure of the three relegated teams, while St. Pauli is undergoing a major overhaul under new coach Marcel Rapp.

The standings at the bottom of the table speak for themselves. Four teams are trailing far behind at the very bottom:

• VfL Osnabrück
• Eintracht Braunschweig
• Greuther Fürth
• Energie Cottbus

This will be a make-or-break season for Fürth. The Kleeblatt finished last season in 16th place and avoided relegation by defeating Rot-Weiss Essen in the relegation playoff. Braunschweig has been battling relegation for years. As a classic yo-yo team, VfL Osnabrück has been bouncing back and forth between the second Bundesliga and the third division in recent seasons. Cottbus, on the other hand, might have a slight advantage that no statistic captures: a fan base that is incredibly passionate at every home and away game.

• High Attendance Figures: 8.7 million spectators attended 2. Bundesliga matches last season. Seven of Germany’s 18 clubs with the highest attendance play in the second division: The league is considered one of the most-attended second divisions worldwide.
• Stadium Sizes: With 74,649 seats, Berlin’s Olympic Stadium is the largest stadium in this 2. Bundesliga season. At the other end of the spectrum are stadiums like the Voith-Arena in Heidenheim (15,000 seats).
• Only four new head coaches are starting the season: Marcel Rapp (St. Pauli), Maximilian Senft (Karlsruher SC), Tobias Strobl (Wolfsburg), and Oliver Kirch (Arminia Bielefeld).
• New rules: On a throw-in, the ball must be thrown within five seconds; substituted players have ten seconds to leave the field, and players receiving treatment must remain off the field for at least one minute.
• New match ball: After eight years, the Adidas “Torfabrik” replaces the “Brillant APS” from Derbystar.

Sky will broadcast all 306 matches live; RTL and Nitro will air the top Saturday night match on free-to-air TV; and Sat.1 has secured the rights to the opening match and the relegation matches. ARD will provide highlights and full match coverage via audio stream.

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