The DFB-Pokal

The DFB-Pokal is contested by 64 clubs each season — the 18 Bundesliga clubs, the 18 2. Bundesliga clubs, the top four finishers from the 3. Liga, plus 24 additional clubs entering through the regional cup competitions and the largest regional associations. The competition uses a single-elimination knockout format throughout. Every round is a single match played at one club's home ground, with extra time and a penalty shoot-out used to decide any tie level after 90 minutes.

The competition has been held since 1935, when it was founded as the Tschammer-Pokal — a name that has been retired given its origins under the Nazi-era sports administration. The competition was suspended in 1944 due to World War II and reinstated in 1953 under the DFB-Pokal name, run by the post-war German Football Association. East Germany operated its own separate cup competition, the FDGB-Pokal, until German reunification in 1990 and the merger of the two football systems the following year.

The first round is played in August. The 64 clubs are split into two pots of 32 based on league rank. The professional pot contains the previous season's 18 Bundesliga clubs and the top 14 clubs from the 2. Bundesliga, while the unseeded pot contains the remaining 2. Bundesliga clubs, 3. Liga qualifiers and regional entrants. Each first-round match pairs a club from the seeded pot with a club from the unseeded pot, and the unseeded club is drawn first and normally hosts the match.

The second round, played in October, again separates Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs from the remaining lower-league clubs where possible. Once one pot has been emptied, any remaining ties are drawn from the same pot, with the team drawn first playing at home. From the round of 16 onwards, the draw uses one pot. The team drawn first normally plays at home, but lower-league clubs retain home advantage when drawn against Bundesliga or 2. Bundesliga opposition. The round of 16 is usually played before the winter break, the quarter-finals in February, the semi-finals in April, and the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin in late May. Every round is a single match played at one club's home ground except the final, which is at the Olympiastadion regardless of the finalists.

The competition begins in mid-August, around the start of the domestic season, and ends with the final in late May. The first round is usually played across a long weekend, while later rounds are commonly scheduled in midweek slots to fit around Bundesliga commitments. The 3. Liga, Regionalliga, and lower-tier clubs entering through the regional cups treat the DFB-Pokal as a significant fixture in their season, while the Bundesliga clubs at the top of the system often rotate squads for the early rounds.

The final at the Olympiastadion is one of the most-watched football fixtures in Germany each year. The stadium holds around 74,000 for the cup final, with both finalists' supporters travelling to Berlin for the match. The venue has been the permanent home of the final since 1985.

All 18 Bundesliga clubs and all 18 2. Bundesliga clubs are entered automatically. The top four finishers from the 3. Liga also enter directly. The remaining 24 places are split between regional cup winners — typically 21 places — and three additional slots for the regional associations with the most men's teams. Reserve teams (such as Bayern Munich II) are ineligible to enter, ensuring that all entrants represent distinct clubs from across the pyramid.

The qualifying structure means that clubs from very different sizes regularly face each other in the early rounds. Bundesliga clubs frequently play away against fourth- or fifth-tier opposition, and the home advantage rule means the smaller club hosts. The DFB-Pokal has produced regular giant-killing moments across its history, particularly when amateur or lower-tier clubs have knocked out Bundesliga sides. Recent examples include several first-round shocks each season.

The DFB-Pokal winner qualifies automatically for the next UEFA Europa League. If the winner has already qualified for Europe through their Bundesliga finish, the Europa League place passes to the highest-placed Bundesliga club not already qualified for European competition. This is the same domino rule used in most major European leagues.

The DFB-Pokal winner also qualifies for the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup — the one-off match held each August between the previous season's Bundesliga champions and DFB-Pokal winners. The competition was previously known as the DFL-Supercup before being renamed from the 2025/26 season. If the same club has won both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, the Supercup is contested between that club and the Bundesliga runners-up. The Supercup is a smaller competition than the league or main cup, but it is still treated as a recognised curtain-raiser for the new season.

The first German cup competition was launched in 1935 as the Tschammer-Pokal. 1. FC Nürnberg won the first edition. The competition was suspended in 1944 due to World War II and not reinstated until 1953, when the West German DFB launched the new DFB-Pokal. The first DFB-Pokal was won by Rot-Weiss Essen. East Germany ran a parallel cup competition, the FDGB-Pokal, between 1949 and 1991. After German reunification in 1990, the two cup competitions merged into the unified DFB-Pokal for the 1991-92 season.

The competition has expanded across the modern era to its current 64-club format. The format has stayed broadly consistent since the mid-1980s, with the Olympiastadion as the permanent venue for the final since 1985. The DFB-Pokal has historically been the most important domestic trophy after the Bundesliga, with most major German clubs treating both competitions as priority targets each season.