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Deniz Aytekin to draw Schalke’s DFB-Pokal first-round opponent
The 32 ties in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB-Pokal will be drawn on Saturday (6/6) from 18:00 CEST. Former DFB referee Deniz Aytekin, who only recently brought his career as a match official to an end, will conduct the draw. During the broadcast, the 47-year-old will determine FC Schalke 04’s first competitive opponent of the new season. The possible challengers from the unseeded pot were finalised last weekend.
A total of 64 clubs from the German Football Association will take part in the knockout competition. 32 of them, including holders FC Bayern, the other 17 Bundesliga clubs and the top 14 sides from last season’s 2. Bundesliga, will be in the seeded pot for the draw. S04 are among them and, like all the other seeded teams, will be away from home.
The other half of the field will be drawn from the unseeded pot. This includes Eintracht Braunschweig, SpVgg Greuther Fürth, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Preußen Münster, the four lowest-placed second-tier sides from last season. They are joined by 21 regional cup winners and three additional teams from the regional associations with the largest number of clubs in competition (Bavaria, Lower Saxony, Westphalia). The final place among the unseeded sides went to Oberliga Westfalen champions SV Westfalia Rhynern last weekend.
Saturday’s draw (6/6) will mainly cover the period from 21st to 24th August, when 30 of the first-round ties will be played. FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund, who will be contesting the Franz-Beckenbauer-Supercup on the same weekend, will play their opening Pokal ties on 1st/2nd September.
The full list of participants:
Bundesliga: FC Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen, SC Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Augsburg, 1. FSV Mainz 05, 1. FC Union Berlin, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hamburger SV, 1. FC Köln, Werder Bremen, VfL Wolfsburg, 1. FC Heidenheim, FC St. Pauli.
2. Bundesliga: FC Schalke 04, SV Elversberg, SC Paderborn 07, Hannover 96, SV Darmstadt 98, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Hertha BSC, 1. FC Nürnberg, VfL Bochum, Karlsruher SC, Dynamo Dresden, Holstein Kiel, Arminia Bielefeld, 1. FC Magdeburg, Eintracht Braunschweig, SpVgg Greuther Fürth, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Preußen Münster.
3. Liga: VfL Osnabrück, FC Energie Cottbus, Rot-Weiss Essen, MSV Duisburg.
Regional cup qualifiers: Waldhof Mannheim (Baden), TSV 1860 München (beaten finalist in Bavaria*), VSG Altglienicke (Berlin), VfB Krieschow (Brandenburg), SV Hemelingen (Bremen), Eimsbütteler Ballspiel Club (Hamburg), SV Wehen Wiesbaden (Hesse), Hansa Rostock (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Viktoria Köln (Mittelrhein), SC St. Tönis (beaten finalist in Niederrhein**), Lüneburger SK Hansa (Lower Saxony – amateur competition), SSV Jeddeloh II (Lower Saxony – 3. Liga/Regionalliga), Eintracht Trier (Rhineland), 1. FC Saarbrücken (Saarland), FC Erzgebirge Aue (Saxony), Hallescher FC (Saxony-Anhalt), 1. FC Phönix Lübeck (Schleswig-Holstein), Bahlinger SC (South Baden), TSV Schott Mainz (Southwest), FC Carl Zeiss Jena (Thuringia), SC Verl (Westphalia), SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (Württemberg).
Regionalliga Bayern runners-up: Würzburger Kickers.
Oberliga Westfalen champions: SV Westfalia Rhynern.
* As the winners of the Bavarian regional cup, Würzburger Kickers, have already qualified via the Regionalliga Bayern, beaten finalists TSV 1860 München will take part in the DFB-Pokal.
** As Niederrheinpokal winners MSV Duisburg have already qualified via the 3. Liga, beaten finalists SC St. Tönis 11/20 will take part in the DFB-Pokal.
