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!
A simple approach to sport with games, fun and a highlight at the end: Bayer 04 organised a very special training session for 40 participants aged between six and 27 in cooperation with the Football Association of the Middle Rhine (FVM). At the day of action for women and girls with disabilities at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre, many of the participants gained their first experience of football.
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On Saturday, 28 March, the lights will go out again at the BayArena from 20:30 pm to 21:30. As in previous years, Bayer 04 once again take part in the WWF Earth Hour campaign under the motto "We're switching off" as the club wants to set a collective example for more climate and environmental protection together with people, cities and companies around the world.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen are bringing back Kerim Alajbegovic, who joined Red Bull Salzburg in the summer of 2025. The Bundesliga club activated the buy-back option in the contract with the Bosnia international, who has enjoyed great success at the Austrian top-flight club since the start of the current season. Alajbegovic moved to Salzburg from the Leverkusen U19s last year. The 1.86-metre forward has signed a five-year contract at Leverkusen with a start date of 1 July 2026.
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Less than a year ago, Kerim Alajbegovic moved from the Bayer 04 U19s to Austrian top-flight club FC Red Bull Salzburg. The forward’s development since then has been impressive. In 36 matches, including in the UEFA Europa League, the 18-year-old has scored 14 goals. In the summer, Alajbegovic, now a Bosnia international, will return to Leverkusen - and thus not only achieve the next milestone still early in his career, but also enrich the Werkself squad with his footballing versatility and determination.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with forward Nathan Tella ahead of schedule. The versatile 26-year-old, who can be deployed as a right winger, false nine or left winger, has penned a new contract to 30 June 2031. Tella joined the Werkself from Championship club Southampton in 2023. His previous contract ran to the summer of 2028.
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