DFB-Pokal first round: Viktoria Köln host Bayern

World Cup winner Kevin Großkreutz joined DFB vice-president Peter Frymuth, who was standing in for DFB president Bernd Neuendorf who couldn’t attend due to illness, to draw the fixtures for the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

“We can't stop celebrating,” said said Viktoria Köln’s sporting director Franz Wunderlich after Großkreutz had drawn Bayern as the third division side’s opposition at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. “We will have to consider moving the game to the big stadium in Cologne, but it doesn’t matter whether we win in Höhenberg or in Müngersdorf.”

1860 Munich take on BVB

There were other appealing guests for some lower league sides. Third division 1860 München will host Borussia Dortmund in their cup opener, while Hamburg-based FC Teutonia Ottensen 05 in the fourth tier will take on defending champions RB Leipzig. Meanwhile, fifth-tier SV Oberachern will welcome Borussia Mönchengladbach.

There will be games between the second and first divisions, with SSV Jahn Regensburg against 1. FC Köln, Eintracht Braunschweig against Hertha BSC, 1. FC Kaiserslautern against SC Freiburg and 1. FC Magdeburg against Eintracht Frankfurt. F.C. Hansa Rostock won’t have far to travel as they visit VfB Lübeck, while 1. FC Heidenheim are on the road to face FV Illertissen.

VfB Stuttgart travel Dynamo Dresden, who were recently relegated from the second division, while Chemnitzer FC of the fourth tier Regionalliga Nordost will host 1. FC Union Berlin. Newly-promoted third division side SV 07 Elversberg host Bayer Leverkusen, and Bremer SV, who are currently playing for promotion to the Regionalliga, will be visited by FC Schalke 04. Fourth-division FC Energie Cottbus will welcome SV Werder Bremen.

First round on the last weekend in July

The first round fixtures will take place between 29th July and 1st August. In addition to the 36 professional clubs from the top two divisions and the four best-placed teams from the third division, the 21 regional cup winners as well as one team from each of the three DFB regional associations with the largest membership - Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony - take part in the DFB Cup. Every team will have the dream of reaching the final in Berlin, which will be held on 3rd June 2023.

First round draw at a glance:

Jahn Regensburg – 1. FC Köln

FV Engers 07 – Arminia Bielefeld

VfB Lübeck – Hansa Rostock

1. FC Kaan-Marienborn – 1. FC Nürnberg

Schott Mainz – Hannover 96

TSG Neustrelitz – Karlsruher SC

Teutonia 05 Ottensen – RB Leipzig

Dynamo Dresden – VfB Stuttgart

Viktoria Berlin – VfL Bochum

Chemnitzer FC – Union Berlin

SV 07 Elversberg – Bayer 04 Leverkusen

BSV Rehden – SV Sandhausen

FC Einheit Wernigerode – SC Paderborn 07

SV Rödinghausen – TSG Hoffenheim

FV Illertissen – 1. FC Heidenheim

Kickers Offenbach – Fortuna Düsselsdorf

Eintracht Braunschweig – Hertha BSC

TSV 1860 München – Borussia Dortmund

1. FC Kaiserslautern – SC Freiburg

SV Oberachern – Borussia Mönchengladbach

FC Ingolstadt – SV Darmstadt 98

Waldhof Mannheim – Holstein Kiel

TuS BW Lohne – FC Augsburg

SV Straelen – FC St. Pauli

SpVgg Bayreuth – Hamburger SV

Erzgebirge Aue – 1. FSV Mainz 05

Energie Cottbus – Werder Bremen

Bremer SV – FC Schalke 04

FC Carl Zeiss Jena – VfL Wolfsburg

Stuttgarter Kickers – Greuther Fürth

Viktoria Köln – FC Bayern München

1. FC Magdeburg – Eintracht Frankfurt