Following the last play-off match between Regional League Borussia Dortmund and second division Borussia Mönchengladbach (3-1), former Germany international Turid Knaak drew the 16 matches with the draw led by Maren Meinert, the Germany Women's team assistant coach. The first round proper was drawn from two pots. The 16 winners of the play-off matches were in pot one and were drawn at home. The teams from the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga plus Turbine Potsdam and SC Sand from the Women's Bundesliga 2 were in pot two.
The winners of the 16 ties qualify for the Round of 16 with those matches played between 15 and 17 November. The quarter-finals follow on 11 and 12 March 2026 before the four remaining teams meet in the semi-finals from 4 to 6 April 2026. The final will be played on Ascension Day, 14 May 2026, at the RheinEnergieSTADION in Cologne as usual.
The Leverkusen Women are currently away at their training camp in Rieden in Bavaria (17 to 23 August) preparing for the new season. The team led by coach Roberto Pätzold play league rivals VfL Wolfsburg in a friendly on Friday, 22 August (14:00 CEST, Stadion Grüne Au, Hof, live stream on Werkself TV and on the Bayer 04 app). Following the return to Leverkusen, there is a final friendly against the Belgian club Standard Liège on Saturday, 30 August (16:00 CEST, 3 x 45 minutes, Kurtekotten). The new Bundesliga season kicks off a week later on Saturday, 6 September (17:45 CEST, live on ARD, Magenta Sport and DAZN) with the official opening fixture away to the champions Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
DFB POKAL FIRST ROUND DRAW
SV Meppen vs SC Sand
SV 07 Elversberg vs Bayer 04
BSG Chemie Leipzig vs FC Carl Zeiss Jena
Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich
SG 99 Andernach vs RB Leipzig
FC Magdeburg vs Hamburg SV
SC Viktoria Hamburg vs Werder Bremen
FC Ingolstadt vs FC Nürnberg
Hannover 96 vs SC Freiburg
ATS Buntentor vs VfL Wolfsburg
Kickers Offenbach vs SGS Essen
Viktoria Berlin vs Eintracht Frankfurt
VfR Warbeyen vs FC Köln
FFC Montabaur vs FFC Turbine Potsdam
SpVgg Greuther Fürth vs TSG Hoffenheim
FSV Mainz 05 vs FC Union Berlin
The Bundesliga has announced the nominees for the ‘Top Goal of the Month’ award for October. Fans of the Werkself can now vote for, amongst others, Robert Andrich’s stunning volley from the match against Mainz 05 or Moussa Diaby’s curling shot into the top corner from the same fixture. Voting, exclusively on the Bundesliga app, remains open until Sunday, 8 November (23:59 CET).
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Bayer 04 host Borussia Mönchengladbach at the BayArena on matchday 12 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Bayer 04 host Eintracht Frankfurt at the BayArena on matchday 14 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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“As far as mentality and determination are concerned, we have nothing to reproach ourselves for,” Robert Andrich said up after the first home defeat for the Werkself this term. In terms of their play, too, the Black and Reds put in a respectable performance for long stretches of this intense and physical match, outperforming VfB Stuttgart in most areas. It was only in terms of efficiency in front of goal that the Swabians had the edge over the Werkself. Head coach Carles Martínez wants to learn from this so that, in future, they can “win this sort of match too”. The Werkself review.
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