DFB Cup Preview 26/27: The Road to Berlin

The DFB Cup Preview 26/27 covers the 84th edition of the competition. 64 teams, six knockout rounds, one final: The format is as simple as it is ruthless. Whoever loses is out. If the score is tied after 90 minutes, there will be extra time and a penalty shootout.

The tournament kicks off on August 21, 2026, and the final will be held on May 29, 2027, starting at 8 p.m. at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, which has hosted the finals since 1985. Unlike in the league, it’s not consistency over 34 matchdays that matters here, but every single game. That’s exactly why the cup represents the biggest opportunity of all for amateur clubs.

This DFB Cup season preview shows who's participating, which matchups make the first round special, who's considered a title contender, and which dates you should mark on your calendar.

Sixty-four teams qualified for the first main round. The composition follows the same pattern every year, but the result this time was unusual:

• All 36 professional clubs from the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga qualify automatically.
• In addition, the four highest-ranked teams from the 3. Liga qualify. For the 2025–26 season, these are Energie Cottbus, MSV Duisburg, Rot-Weiss Essen, and VfL Osnabrück.
• The remaining spots are filled by the 21 state cup champions, as well as three clubs awarded additional spots by the state associations with the largest membership.

Noteworthy: There have never been so many third-division teams in the draw. Twelve clubs competing in the 3. Liga in 2026/27 have qualified through various routes: via their league standings or through state cup competitions. Seeded in Pot 1 are the Bundesliga teams and the 14 best second-division teams from the previous season. As a result, Eintracht Braunschweig, Greuther Fürth, Fortuna Düsseldorf, and Preußen Münster also made it into the amateur draw. All four will therefore have home-field advantage against a professional club.

Former referee Deniz Aytekin drew the matchups on June 6, 2026, at the German Soccer Museum in Dortmund.

These matchups stand out:

• VfL Osnabrück – FC Bayern Munich: The second-division newcomer faces the double champion. Their last cup matchup was 22 years ago, when FCB pulled off a late 3-2 victory.
• HEBC Hamburg – Borussia Dortmund: The Oberliga team from Eimsbüttel hosts the runner-up at the Volksparkstadion.
• VfB Krieschow vs. 1. FSV Mainz 05: The Brandenburg Cup champion hails from a village of 490 residents, making it the smallest town in cup history. However, the match will be played in a larger stadium in the region.
• SV Waldhof Mannheim vs. 1. FC Kaiserslautern: The Southwest Derby kicks off the cup competition.
• TSV 1860 Munich – Holstein Kiel: The longest trip of the weekend, nearly 900 kilometers.
• Hansa Rostock – VfB Stuttgart: The opening match on ZDF; between 2018 and 2020, the two teams faced each other three times in the first round.

The matches will be played from August 21 through 24, though not by everyone: Since Bayern and Dortmund will be playing the Franz Beckenbauer Super Cup in Dortmund on August 22, both teams will not begin their campaigns until September 1 and 2.

The defending champion and top favorite is FC Bayern Munich. The Munich team won the final on May 23, 2026, 3–0 against VfB Stuttgart, with Harry Kane scoring all three goals. It was their 21st cup title, setting a new record. But it was also their first win in six years.

In the five seasons leading up to that triumph, Bayern had already been eliminated three times in the second round, including a loss to third-division side Saarbrücken. No other competition in Germany provokes such bitter setbacks.

Behind them, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and finalist VfB Stuttgart make up the chasing pack, along with Eintracht Frankfurt, a well-known cup specialist. In a tournament with six knockout rounds, luck of the draw naturally plays a role. A team that manages to avoid the absolute top favorites for a long time can march all the way to the final, as Arminia Bielefeld did in 2024–25.

Bet on the DFB Cup games now

• Video review will not be used until the round of 16. The first two rounds will be played without VAR. This is an advantage for underdogs hoping for close calls.

• The cup champion qualifies directly for the group stage of the 2027–28 Europa League. If the team has already qualified for international competition through the league, the sixth- and seventh-place teams in the Bundesliga will take their place.

• Reserve teams and joint teams are not eligible to participate, even if they had qualified on the basis of their athletic performance.

• For amateur clubs, simply participating in the first round often covers their entire annual budget. With each subsequent round, the prize money doubles, all the way through to the semifinals.

ARD, ZDF, and RTL will share 15 live broadcasts on free-to-air television, including both semifinals and the final. In the first round, ZDF will broadcast Hansa Rostock vs. VfB Stuttgart, ARD will air the match between Hallescher FC and newly promoted Schalke 04, and Osnabrück vs. Bayern. RTL will broadcast Saarbrücken vs. Hertha, Würzburg vs. Cologne, and BVB’s rescheduled match in Hamburg.

If you want to see everything, Sky is the only way to go: The pay-TV channel will broadcast all 63 matches live, including a roundup on matchdays with multiple games. DAZN will feature highlights of all the games starting at midnight.