The 32 first round ties will be drawn during the ARD Sportschau from 18.00 CET (live on TV and live Internet stream). The matches will be played on the second weekend in August (9 to 11 August). The Germany women's World Cup winner Nia Künzer will draw the teams. DFB vice-president Peter Frymuth is in charge of proceedings and Markus Othmer will be the presenter.
64 teams have qualified for the 77th domestic cup competition including Bayer 04 as well as the sixth tier side from the Rhineland Palatinate FSV Salmrohr (winners of the Rhineland Cup) who are the lowest ranking participants. All the teams are divided into two groups: The first, so-called 'Pros pot', has all the Bundesliga clubs plus the top 14 teams from the second division last season. The other four clubs from the second division, the four top teams in the third division plus the 24 representatives from the state associations are in the second, so-called 'Amateur pot'
FC Heidenheim (Bundesliga 2)
FC Köln (Promoted to the Bundesliga)
FC Nürnberg (Relegated to Bundesliga 2)
FSV Mainz 05 (Bundesliga)
Arminia Bielefeld (2. Bundesliga)
Bayer 04
Bayern Munich (Bundesliga, Holders)
Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)
Borussia Mönchengladbach (Bundesliga)
Dynamo Dresden (Bundesliga 2)
Eintracht Frankfurt (Bundesliga)
Erzgebirge Aue (Bundesliga 2)
FC Augsburg (Bundesliga)
FC Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)
FC St. Pauli ( Bundesliga 2)
Fortuna Düsseldorf (Bundesliga)
Hamburger SV (Bundesliga 2)
Hannover 96 (Relegated to Bundesliga 2)
Hertha Berlin (Bundesliga)
Holstein Kiel (Bundesliga 2)
Jahn Regensburg (Bundesliga 2)
RB Leipzig (Bundesliga)
SC Freiburg (Bundesliga)
SC Paderborn (Promoted to the Bundesliga)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth (Bundesliga 2)
SV Darmstadt (2. Bundesliga)
TSG Hoffenheim (Bundesliga)
Union Berlin (Promoted to the Bundesliga)
VfB Stuttgart (Relegated to Bundesliga 2)
VfL Bochum (Bundesliga 2)
VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga)
Werder Bremen (Bundesliga)
FC Kaiserslautern (League 3, South West Cup winners)
FC Magdeburg (Relegated to League 3)
FC Saarbrücken (Regional League, Saarland Cup winners)
Alemannia Aachen (Regional League, Middle Rhine Cup winners)
Chemnitzer FC (League 3, Saxony Cup winners)
Energie Cottbus (Regional League, Brandenburg Cup winners)
FC 08 Villingen (Oberliga, South Baden Cup winners)
FC Hansa Rostock (League 3, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Cup winners)
FC Ingolstadt (Relegated to League 3)
FC Oberneuland (Oberliga, Bremen Cup winners)
FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin (Regional League, Berlin Cup winners)
FSV Salmrohr (League 6, Rhineland Cup winners)
FSV Wacker Nordhausen (Regional League, Thüringen Cup winners)
Hallescher FC (League 3)
Karlsruher SC (Promoted to League 2)
KFC Uerdingen 05 (League 3, Lower Rhine Cup winners)
MSV Duisburg (Relegated to League 3)
KSV Baunatal (Oberliga, Hessen Cup winners)
SC Verl (Regional League, Westphalia Cup finalists)
SSV Ulm 1846 (Regional League, Württemberg Cup winners)
SV Atlas Delmenhorst (Oberliga, Lower Saxony Cup finalists)
SV Drochtersen/Assel (Regional League, Lower Saxony Cup winners)
SV Rödinghausen (Regional League, Westphalia Cup winners)
SV Sandhausen (League 2)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden (Promoted to League 2)
TuS Dassendorf (Oberliga, Hamburg Cup winners)
VfB Eichstätt (Regional League, Bavaria Cup finalists)
VfB Germania Halberstadt (Regional League, Sachsen-Anhalt Cup winners)
VfB Lübeck (Regional League, Schleswig-Holstein Cup winners)
VfL Osnabrück (Promoted to League 2)
Waldhof Mannheim (League 3, Baden Cup winners)
Würzburger Kickers (League 3, Bayern Cup winners)
Ten years after retiring as a player, Kristina Sundov is returning to the Bayer 04 Women’s team as assistant coach. The 39-year-old former Croatia international takes over from Remzi Kahraman, who has taken up a new challenge abroad. She has been given a contract to 30 June 2028.
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The training pitches at the BayArena are already buzzing with activity again, even before training officially begins next week. On Monday morning, a small group from the Werkself first-team squad completed a session lasting around an hour. Both new and familiar faces were present.
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One ticket, two matches – and a varied programme of events, including appearances by players from the professional teams: Bayer 04 has come up with something very special for the 2026 season launch on Saturday, 8 August. From morning right through to the evening, Werkself fans can use just one ticket to not only enjoy top-class football from the Bayer 04 teams live, but also to experience unforgettable moments with the whole family through a variety of hands-on activities around the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The day will also end on a real high note: after both matches, Bayer 04 supporters will have the opportunity to interact directly with the players during joint activities and get to know them from a different angle.
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Issa Traoré is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Slovakian top-flight side AS Trencin. The club has loaned the centre-back out for one year to this year’s ninth-placed team in the Slovakian league.
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