In addition to the professional teams in the VBL Club Championship, amateur teams can also take part in the DFBePokal powered by ERGO. These teams must register in advance, provided they fulfil the necessary participation requirements and conditions on the DFB website.
In the DFBePokal, the 95-team mode is always used - unlike in the VBL CC, where the Ultimate Team mode is used. In the ePokal, players can choose any team from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 or Liga 3. However, VBL CC professional players must use their club team.
The DFBePokal is organised as follows: The amateur teams compete in community qualifiers from October to February. 256 teams can register for each qualifier, the ties are drawn and there is a winner at the end. There are a total of seven of these qualifiers and an additional qualifier exclusively for the winners of regional tournaments, the state association trophies.
Eight winners emerge there and play against each other online in a subsequent play-off round. Here too, the ties are drawn. Four teams remain.
These four teams qualify for the Pokal final event at the DFB Campus in Frankfurt, which will take place in 2026. Four teams from the VBL Club Championship will join them there, namely the winners of the first four showdowns that have been held since the 2025/26 season. The #B04eSports team have won the first showdown of the season and are therefore guaranteed a place in the DFBePokal.
The ties in the final event are drawn at random, and in the end one team can call themselves the Pokal winners!
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended youngster Montrell Culbreath's contract once again. Having only signed a deal with the Bundesliga club until 30 June 2030 in January, still as an U19 player, the attacking midfielder, who's since established himself in the first-team squad, has penned a new contract valid until 30 June 2031. Culbreath joined the Werkself academy in 2023 and made 16 first-team appearances in the 2025/26 season in the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and Champions League, scoring one goal.
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Ecuador international Piero Hincapie, who moved to Arsenal FC on loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen for the 2025/26 season, will join the English champions permanently on 1 July 2026.
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The date and kick-off time for Bayer 04’s match in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal have been confirmed. The Werkself face SV Wehen Wiesbaden on Saturday afternoon, 22 August, at 13:00 CEST. The German Football Association (DFB) announced this today, Wednesday. The Pokal tie against the Hessen state cup winners will be played at the BRITA Arena. Ticket information to follow at a later date.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro will lead a club delegation to Brazil from July 2-6 for a program of partner engagement, community activities and football development initiatives across São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract of promising striker Amy Wrigge on a long-term basis. The 18-year-old Germany U19 international, currently recovering from a torn cruciate in her left knee, has signed a new contract to 30 June 2029.
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