The club from central Baden was established in 2010 following the merger of VfR Pforzheim and FC Pforzheim. The club has been in the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga since promotion in 2015. The team coached by Gökhan Gökce finished thirteenth last season.
Pforzheim qualified for the DFB Cup as finalists of the Baden State Cup. CfR lost 6-5 on penalties but went through as the winners Karlsruher SC, last season's first round opponents for the Werkself, qualify for the national cup competition as a third division club.
The first round ties in the DFB Cup will played from 17-20 August with the final details of the fixtures to be confirmed.
DFB Cup Round One draw in full:
Friday, 17 August, 20.45 CET:
SV Wehen Wiesbaden (League 3) v FC St. Pauli (League 2)
FC Magdeburg (League 2) v SV Darmstadt 98 (League 2)
FC Schweinfurt 05 (Regional League Bavaria) v Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)
Saturday, 18 August, 15.30 CET:
CfR Pforzheim (Oberliga) v Bayer 04
SV Linx (Verbandsliga) v FC Nürnberg (Bundesliga)
SV Rödinghausen (Regional League West) v Dynamo Dresden (League 2)
SV Elversberg 07 (Regional League South West) v VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga)
TuS Dassendorf (Oberliga) v MSV Duisburg (League 2)
Wormatia Worms (Regional League South West) v Werder Bremen (Bundesliga)
SV Drochtersen/Assel (Regional League North) v Bayern Munich (Bundesliga)
FC Kaiserslautern (League 3) v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (Bundesliga)
SSV Ulm (Regional League Bavaria) v Eintracht Frankfurt (Bundesliga)
Saturday, 18 August, 18.30 CET:
TuS Erndtebrück (Oberliga) v Hamburg SV (League 2)
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (Regional League West) v SV Sandhausen (League 2)
Erzgebirge Aue (League 2) v FSV Mainz 05 (Bundesliga)
Saturday, 18 August, 20.45 CET:
Hansa Rostock (League 3) v VfB Stuttgart (Bundesliga)
Sunday, 19 August, 15.30 CET:
FC Lok Stendal (Oberliga) v Arminia Bielefeld (League 2)
TSV Steinbach (Regional League South West) v FC Augsburg (Bundesliga)
TuS Rot-Weiß Koblenz (Oberliga) v Fortuna Düsseldorf (Bundesliga)
Weiche Flensburg 08 (Regional League North) v VfL Bochum (League 2)
BSG Chemie Leipzig (Oberliga) v Jahn Regensburg (League 2)
BFC Dynamo (Regional League North) v FC Köln (League 2)
SSV Jeddeloh II (Regionalliga Nord) - 1. FC Heidenheim (League 2)
Viktoria Köln (Regional League West) v RB Leipzig (Bundesliga)
Karlsruher SC (League 3) v Hannover 96 (Bundesliga)
Sunday, 19 August, 18.30 CET:
TSV 1860 Munich (League 3) v Holstein Kiel (League 2)
Carl Zeiss Jena (League 3) v FC Union Berlin (League 2)
Monday, 20 August, 18.30 CET:
BSC Hastedt (Oberliga) - Borussia Mönchengladbach (Bundesliga)
SC Paderborn (League 2) - FC Ingolstadt (2. Bundesliga)
Energie Cottbus (League 3) v SC Freiburg (Bundesliga)
Eintracht Braunschweig (League 3) v Hertha BSC (Bundesliga)
Monday, 20 August, 20.45 CET:
SpVgg Greuther Fürth (League 2) v Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)
Key dates in 2018/2019 DFB Cup:
Round 2: 30/31 October 2018
Round of 16: 5/6 February 2019
Quarter-finals: 2/3 April 2019
Semi-finals: 23/24 April 2019
Final: 25 May 2019
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 face Hamburger SV for the first time in almost eight years. Although the Hanseatic city team are often below par on the road, they are regularly in top form in front of their own fans. In particular, 18-year-old shooting star Luka Vuskovic is proving to be a real bonus for Merlin Polzin's team, both in attack and defence. However, that should not scare the Werkself: Not only was the last defeat against the newly promoted team 17 games ago, but Kasper Hjulmand's players are in with a chance of securing their fifth win in six games against HSV. Today’s matchday news.
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