"Wehen Wiesbaden are a seasoned professional club from the third division, who will give their all and perform with passion in front their home crowd," said Simon Rolfes, Managing Director Sport at Bayer 04. "Our aim is clear: we want to make the first round a success and lay the foundations for a long Pokal run."
A total of 64 clubs were once again in the draw for the DFB Pokal first round divided into two pots. Pot one contained the teams that finished in 15th to 18th place in Bundesliga 2 last term, as well as the four top teams in the third division in 2025/26 and 24 representatives of the regional associations. All of them are at home. The second pot contained the 18 Bundesliga teams and the 14 best-placed Bundesliga 2 teams from last season.
The DFB Pokal first round tie will be the first competitive match for Bayer 04 in the 2026/27 season and therefore also the first match under new head coach Carles Martínez. Bayer 04 will provide futher information via the club media channels as soon as the specific match date and details of ticket sales for this DFB Pokal tie have been finalised.
The second round is scheduled for 27/28 October and the Round of 16 for 1/2 December. The quarter-finals will be played on 2/3 and 9/10 February 2027 and the semi-finals on 20/21 April 2027. The final is on 29 May 2027 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
DFB Pokal first round ties:
SC St. Tönis 1911/20 vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
FC Erzgebirge Aue vs. TSG Hoffenheim
Eintracht Braunschweig vs. Union Berlin
SV Eintracht Trier 05 vs. RB Leipzig
HEBC Hamburg vs. Borussia Dortmund
TSV Schott Mainz vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach
Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. SC Freiburg
Rot-Weiss Essen vs. FC St. Pauli
SG Sonnenhof Großaspach vs. Arminia Bielefeld
SSV Jeddeloh II vs. FC Heidenheim
SV Wehen Wiesbaden vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Hallescher FC vs. Schalke 04
Energie Cottbus vs. FC Augsburg
VfB 1921 Krieschow vs. Mainz 05
SpVgg Greuther Fürth vs. VfL Bochum
SV Hemelingen vs. Hannover 96
SC Preußen Münster vs. Karlsruher SC
FC Saarbrücken vs. Hertha Berlin
FC Viktoria Köln vs. FC Nürnberg
MSV Duisburg vs. SV 07 Elversberg
VfL Osnabrück vs. Bayern Munich
Lüneburger SK Hansa vs. Werder Bremen
SC Verl vs. Hamburger SV
Hansa Rostock vs. VfB Stuttgart
Carl Zeiss Jena vs. SV Darmstadt 98
Bahlinger SC vs. FC Magdeburg
1860 Munich vs. Holstein Kiel
SV Waldhof Mannheim vs. FC Kaiserslautern
SV Westfalia Rhynern vs. Dynamo Dresden
FC Phönix Lübeck vs. SC Paderborn 07
VSG Altglienicke Berlin vs. VfL Wolfsburg
Würzburger Kickers vs. FC Köln
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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