"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
Alejo Sarco has left Bayer 04 Leverkusen to join Sporting Gijón in Spain’s second division. Bayer 04 have secured a buy-back clause for the 20-year-old Argentine striker, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed 16-year-old midfield prospect Gabriel Minutillo on a long-term contract. The Germany youth international will play for the U19s this season.
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Bayer 04 preparations for the 2026/27 season are in full swing, with the first friendly now under their belts. Although there are still around seven weeks to go until the first Bundesliga home game in early September, there is already huge anticipation for the start of competitive action for head coach Carles Martínez’s team at the BayArena. For the Bundesliga home matches of the new season, here is the latest information regarding the first phase of single-match ticket sales. The tried-and-tested early-bird phase remains in place. From 23 to 31 July, tickets for matches will go on sale on weekdays; the early-bird phase ends on 5 August at the latest – provided tickets are still available by then.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without forward Eliesse Ben Seghir for the time being.
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