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)
Bayer 04 will round off their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with a friendly against Premier League side Newcastle United. The match against the side featuring German internationals Malik Thiaw and Nick Woltemade will take place on Saturday 15 August (kick-off: 4 pm German time/3 pm local time) at St James’ Park. Werkself-TV will stream the match live in full and free of charge after logging in from 3.50 pm...
After the 2-1 defeat at Premier League club Nottingham Forest the night before, it was straight back to work for the Werkself at midday on Thursday with an intensive training session in hot temperatures at the hosts' training ground.
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The Werkself suffered a first defeat in the current pre-season fixtures. The sixth friendly of the summer ended in 2-1 reverse at Premier League Nottingham Forest. The English side took an early lead (4’) but Patrik Schick levelled just after the half-hour mark (32’). Nothing much happened after that, and the match looked set to end in a draw. However, the hosts managed to score the winning goal late on (90').
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have loaned U19 midfielder Jeremiah Mensah to Dutch second-tier side Roda JC Kerkrade for one year. The 18-year-old Germany youth international has a long-term contract at the club to 2031.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH has taken note of the final, non-binding statement issued by the Bundeskartellamt regarding the 50+1 rule and its application, and will now examine it carefully.
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