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)
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Carlotta Wamser has completed a move away from Bayer 04 Women to join Manchester City in England’s Women’s Super League. The 22-year-old Germany international spent one year with the Werkself.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have transferred France U19 international Axel Tape to Spain. The 19-year-old is joining top-flight side Levante UD on a one-year loan. Tape joined the Werkself on a long-term deal from Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain ahead of the 2025/26 season.
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Despite a spirited performance, the Bayer 04 Women suffered their first defeat in their first home game of the season. In front of 1,184 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium, coach Roberto Pätzold’s side lost 2-1 to VfL Wolfsburg. Selina Ostermeier’s equaliser (51’) was not enough to secure a point, as the Bundesliga runners-up were quick to strike back.
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