Following the draw to determine the first round of matches in the 2020/21 DFB-Pokal, defending champions and record winners Bayern München will have to wait and see who their opponents will be. The Bavarians will face the winner of the Middle Rhine cup, with a further 22 clubs also still waiting to find out who they will face in the first round of the competition.
2019/20 finalists Bayer 04 Leverkusen have been drawn against the winner of the Hamburg cup, while Borussia Mönchengladbach will play with winner of the Bremen cup. Bundesliga runners-up Borussia Dortmund have been drawn against third-division MSV Duisburg.
2020/21 season to begin with the DFB-Pokal
The full list of 64 teams that will contest this year’s cup competition remains incomplete due to the break in football caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. With the regional cup competitions set to be completed on 22nd August 2020, teams looking to qualify in this manner were instead represented by placeholders for the time being. The decision to conduct the draw before the names of the participants from the regional associations was know, was chosen in order to allow more intensive planning for the respective venues, especially for the amateur clubs. All amateur sides will also be facing special challenges with regard to developing a hygiene concept to adhere to during their respective first-round matches. This extra time to prepare will also allow for accurate scheduling.
The first-round matches will take place between 11th to 14th September, and will mark the start of the 2020/21 season in German professional football. The Bundesliga is scheduled to resume a week later. The second round of matches is scheduled to take place from 22nd/23rd December, with the round of 16 planned for 2nd-3rd February 2021. The quarterfinals have been scheduled for 2nd-3rd May 2021.
The semi-finals are planned to take place during the first weekend in May 2021, however the final dates for this round are still subject to final votes. The date for the final has been fixed, however, and will be held on 13th May, 2021 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Unlike usual, this year’s final will not take place following the conclusion of the league season. This is due to the intensity of the 2020/21 schedule caused by the later start to the season.
DFB-Pokal first-round ties, 2020/21
1. FC Nürnberg – RB Leipzig
Schleswig-Holstein cup path – VfL Osnabrück
Lower Saxony cup path (third division and Regionalliga) – FSV Mainz 05
Saxony cup path – TSG Hoffenheim
Bavaria cup path – Eintracht Frankfurt
Thuringia cup path – Werder Bremen
SV Wehen Wiesbaden – 1. FC Heidenheim
Middle Rhine cup path – Bayern München
Lower Saxony cup path (amateurs) – FC Augsburg
South Baden cup path – Holstein Kiel
Eintracht Braunschweig – Hertha BSC
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern cup path - VfB Stuttgart
MSV Duisburg – Borussia Dortmund
Hesse cup path – SV Sandhausen
Württemberg cup path – Erzgebirge Aue
Dynamo Dresden – Hamburger SV
Rhineland cup path – VfL Bochum
Baden cup path – SC Freiburg
Brandenburg cup path – VfL Wolfsburg
Bremen cup path – Borussia Mönchengladbach
Saarland cup path – FC St. Pauli
Hamburg cup path – Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Würzburger Kickers – Hannover 96
Westphalia Path #2 – Greuther Fürth
South West cup path – Jahn Regensburg
Berlin cup path – 1. FC Köln
Lower Rhine cup path – Arminia Bielefeld
Bavaria league path – FC Schalke 04
FC Ingolstadt – Fortuna Düsseldorf
Karlsruher SC – Union Berlin
1. FC Magdeburg – SV Darmstadt 98
Westphalia Path #1 – SC Paderborn
