SV Werder Bremen will open the 2025/26 competitive season away against Arminia Bielefeld in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. The draw was conducted on Sunday (15th June) at the German Football Museum in Dortmund, and pits the Green-Whites against last season's finalists.
The draw was conducted by German sprinter Owen Ansah, alongside DFB vice-president Peter Frymuth. The first round of matches will be played on the weekend of 15th to 18th August, with the exact dates and times still to be announced. FC Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart will only play their respective first-round matches on 26th or 27th August, due to taking part in the Franz-Beckenbauer-Cup (formerly the Supercup) on 16th August.
Head coach Horst Steffen: "Bielefeld are definitely one of the toughest draws we could have gotten. But, we will give everything we have and prepare well in order to advance to the next round."
Head of professional football Peter Niemeyer: "Arminia are a strong opponent. We will need to prepare well in order to be ready for the start of the competitive season. In recent years we've seen how tough it can be to play away in Bielefeld, but as the Bundesliga side, our aim is to progress to the next round."
Captain Marco Friedl: "It's a tough opponent to face in the first round. The fact that they reached the final last season speaks volumes for Bielefeld. They are particularly strong at home. They're also on a good run at the minute, having also been promoted. We definitely have a score to settle with them still, which is why we'll give it everything we have. We'll definitely still be the favourites, but will need to be on our toes."
SG Dynamo Dresden - 1. FSV Mainz 05
Arminia Bielefeld - SV Werder Bremen
1. FC Schweinfurt - Fortuna Düsseldorf
Sonnenhof Großaspach - Bayer Leverkusen
1. FC Saarbrücken - 1. FC Magdeburg
Lok Leipzig - FC Schalke 04
Bahlinger SC - 1. FC Heidenheim
F.C. Hansa Rostock - TSG Hoffenheim
BW Lohne - Greuther Fürth
SV Sandhausen - RB Leipzig
Energie Cottbus - Hannover 96
FC 08 Homburg - Holstein Kiel
Jahn Regensburg - 1. FC Köln
Preußen Münster - Hertha BSC
FC Gütersloh - 1. FC Union Berlin
Sportfreunde Lotte - SC Freiburg
BFC Dynamo - VfL Bochum
Eintracht Norderstedt - FC St. Pauli
VfB Lübeck - Darmstadt 98
FV Engers - Eintracht Frankfurt
FV Illertissen - 1. FC Nürnberg
ZFC Meuselwitz - Karlsruher SC
Rot-Weiss Essen - Borussia Dortmund
RSV Eintracht - 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Viktoria Köln - SC Paderborn
Atlas Delmenhorst - Borussia Mönchengladbach
Hallescher FC - FC Augsburg
FK Pirmasens - Hamburger SV
SV Hemelingen - VfL Wolfsburg
SSV Ulm - SV Elversberg
Wehen Wiesbaden - FC Bayern München
Eintracht Braunschweig - VfB Stuttgart
First round: 15th-18th August and 26th/27th August 2025
Second round: 28th/29th October 2025
Round of 16: 2nd/3rd December 2025
Quarter-finals: 3rd/4th February and 10th/11th February 2026
Semi-finals: 21st/22nd April 2026
Final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin: 23rd May 2026
