Five wins away from the final, six from cup glory. 64 teams start their cup campaign this weekend and all are dreaming of lifting the trophy in Berlin. The first round of the 2016/17 DFB Cup takes place from Friday through to Monday. Read on for the most important facts ahead of the first 32 games in the cup.
The 74th DFB Cup: The competition began in 1935 when the Tschammer Cup was born. This season will be the 74th DFB Cup contested since its inception. 25 different teams have previously won the competition. Essen (Schwarz-Weiß and Rot-Weiß), Munich (FC Bayern and TSV 1860) and Vienna (First Vienna and Rapid) are the only cities with two different cup-winning clubs.
Dates: The first round will be played from Friday through to Monday. Three games will take place this Friday at 20:45 CEST. On Saturday, nine teams will kick off at 15:30 CEST, three teams at 18:30 CEST and the clash between FSV Frankfurt and Wolfsburg begins at 20:45 CEST. On Sunday, nine teams will begin their cup campaign at 15:30 CEST, with three more kicking off at 18:30 CEST. Three games take place this Monday at 18:30 CEST, with the contest between Eintracht Trier and Borussia Dortmund completing the first round of fixtures at 20:45 CEST.
Match-ups: There are two contests in the first round which pit a sixth-division side against a Bundesliga outfit. FC 08 Villingen welcome Schalke 04, while BFC Preussen will play 1. FC Köln. Teams in the Oberliga can also look forward to a clash with Bundesliga opposition. FV Ravensburg come up against FC Augsburg, whilst SC Hauenstein have been drawn against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Regionalliga side FC Carl Zeiss Jena will play the cup holders Bayern München.
The final: The Olympic Stadium in Berlin has been the host venue for the cup final since 1985. The first final in Berlin saw FC Bayern lose 2-1 to Bayer 05 Uerdingen in May 1985. This year’s final will be played on 27th May 2017.
Route to the final: Teams must overcome six sides to lift the trophy next May, with every game being a knockout fixture. If the scores are level at the end of 90 minutes, the game goes into extra time and then penalties if necessary.
64 teams: 64 teams are taking part in the DFB Cup this season. Along with the 36 sides who competed in the first and second divisions last season, there are also the four best-placed teams from the third division in 2015/16. 24 further clubs from the 21 DFB national associations make up the starting field, largely qualifying through the regional cup competitions.
Serial winners: Bayern München hold the record for the most DFB Cup triumphs. Bayern have won the competition a total of 18 times, most recently on 21st May 2016 against Borussia Dortmund (0-0 a.e.t., 4-3 on pens). In second place are Werder Bremen with six DFB Cups, while Schalke are third with five titles. Bayern are also the team with the most final appearances (21), and have so far managed to defend their title three times. No other team has managed to defend their title more than once. Unsurprisingly, Bayern have also contested the highest number of matches (240), recorded the most victories (180) and scored the most goals (683).
Negative records: The largest number of defeats in the competition is a record held by Hamburger SV (63), while Schalke 04 have conceded the most goals (307). The heaviest defeat for a Bundesliga side against an amateur team occurred in the 2000/01 season, namely when Eintracht Frankfurt were beaten 6-1 by VfB Stuttgart II, in the third division at the time.
Record champion Schweinsteiger: Of all players, Bastian Schweinsteiger has been able to lift the trophy on the most occasions. He won the coveted trophy a total of seven times with his former club FC Bayern. Just behind him are Oliver Kahn, Claudio Pizarro and Philipp Lahm, with six trophies each.
Cup specialists: Three players have managed to win the DFB Cup with three different clubs. They are Klaus Allofs (Düsseldorf, Köln, Bremen), Thomas Kroth (Köln, HSV, Dortmund) and Thorsten Legat (Bremen, Stuttgart, Schalke). Kur Sommerlatt is the only player to have won the trophy three years in a row, winning the competition in 1955 and 1956 with Karlsruher SC and then in 1957 with Bayern München.
Match ball: In the DFB Cup, the home teams can choose which match ball they would like to use. The Bundesliga teams usually all revert to the Bundesliga ball, the Torfabrik. In the final in Berlin, they play with the same match ball as in international matches. This means the last cup final was played with the EURO 2016 ball, the Beau Jeu. The 2017 DFB Cup final will be played using the official Confederations Cup match ball.
Successful coaches: The coaches with the most titles under their belt are Karl-Heinz Feldkamp, Hennes Weisweiler, Udo Lattek, Otto Rehhagel, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Thomas Schaaf. They have all won three titles each. Thomas Schaaf didn’t only win the DFB Cup with Werder Bremen as a coach, but he also won it when he was a player there. This feat has also been accomplished by Ludwig Janda (1860 München and Karlsruhe), Aki Schmidt (Dortmund and Offenbach) and Jupp Heynckes (Gladbach and Bayern).
Top goalscorers: Gerd Müller is the record scorer in the DFB Cup, with 78 goals in total for Bayern München. Ernst Willimowski (1860 München, 1942/43) and Dieter Müller (1. FC Köln 1976/77) both hold the record for the highest number of goals in a single tournament (14). The record number of goals in a single DFB Cup match is seven, scored by three players: Dieter Hoeneβ for VfB Stuttgart against Spandauer SV on 5th August 1978, Ernst Willimowski for 1860 München in a 15-1 win against SS Straβburg on 30th August 1942 and also by Helmut Schön in Dresdner SC’s 13-0 victory over Preuβen Greppin on 28th August 1938. Carsten Jancker scored six goals for 1. FC Kaiserslautern in their 15-0 win over FC Schönberg in August 2001, the most goals ever scored in a single half of a DFB Cup match.
Penalties: Borussia Mönchengladbach have taken part in the most penalty shootouts in the DFB Cup to date. They have only won five of 15 though. Losing ten penalty shootouts is also a cup record. In comparison, Bayern München have won ten out of 14 penalty shootouts, a record high for the tournament. The longest penalty shootout occurred in a match between VfB Stuttgart and SV Sandhausen in the first round of the DFB Cup in the 1995/96 season. Both teams managed to convert each of their first twelve penalties. In the end, VfB Stuttgart lost 13-12 after Hendrik Herzog missed the 13th penalty for Stuttgart, the second penalty he had taken in the shootout.
Attendance record: The record attendance in the history of the DFB Cup was in the 2008 semi-final between Borussia Dortmund and Carl Zeiss Jena. 80,078 supporters watched Dortmund win 3-0 in the Signal Iduna Park.
First-round nerves: Since 2000, Bundesliga teams have had to play away from home against a lower-league team in the first round of the tournament. Since then, a Bundesliga team has been knocked out of the tournament in the first round on 48 of 288 occasions. There were a record number of cup upsets in the 2012/13 season, with six Bundesliga teams knocked out of the tournament in the first round.
Two qualified sixth-tier clubs: The two lowest ranked clubs this year are FC Villingen and BFC Preussen from the sixth division. No clubs from lower than fifth division qualified last year. Villingen are the current Southern Baden Cup holders, while Preussen won the Berlin Cup last season.
Five debutants: This season, five teams are taking part in the DFB Cup for the very first time. Alongside SV Drochtersen/Assel, 1. FC Germania Egestorf/Langreder and Eintracht Norderstedt who all play in the Regionalliga Nord, there is FV Ravensburg from the Oberliga Baden-Württemburg Oberliga, while SC Hauenstein come from the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar.
Trophy: The DFB cup is exactly 52cm tall and weighs 12.5lb. Art experts value the trophy at around €100,000, although some say it’s priceless. The same trophy has been used since 1965 and was designed by Wilhelm Nagel, a goldsmith from Cologne. There is room on the base for the winners’ names to be engraved until 2020.
Goal-line technology: Since its premiere in the 2015 final, goal-line technology has been in use in all rounds of the DFB Cup – at least theoretically. There are two important requirements for it to be available. Firstly, the technology has to already be available in the stadium, which is only the case in 18 of them. Secondly, the ball that the home team use has to be compatible with the technology. The only ball which falls into this category is the Torfabrik. Because Bundesliga teams do not enjoy the right to play at home in the first round, the technology will only be in use in the second round at the earliest. Although FC Villingen (Schwarzwald-Stadion in Freiburg) and 1860 München (Allianz Arena) will play their ties in Bundesliga stadiums, they do not play with a ball which is compatible with the technology.
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Five wins away from the final, six from cup glory. 64 teams start their cup campaign this weekend and all are dreaming of lifting the trophy in Berlin. The first round of the 2016/17 DFB Cup takes place from Friday through to Monday. Read on for the most important facts ahead of the first 32 games in the cup.
The 74th DFB Cup: The competition began in 1935 when the Tschammer Cup was born. This season will be the 74th DFB Cup contested since its inception. 25 different teams have previously won the competition. Essen (Schwarz-Weiß and Rot-Weiß), Munich (FC Bayern and TSV 1860) and Vienna (First Vienna and Rapid) are the only cities with two different cup-winning clubs.
Dates: The first round will be played from Friday through to Monday. Three games will take place this Friday at 20:45 CEST. On Saturday, nine teams will kick off at 15:30 CEST, three teams at 18:30 CEST and the clash between FSV Frankfurt and Wolfsburg begins at 20:45 CEST. On Sunday, nine teams will begin their cup campaign at 15:30 CEST, with three more kicking off at 18:30 CEST. Three games take place this Monday at 18:30 CEST, with the contest between Eintracht Trier and Borussia Dortmund completing the first round of fixtures at 20:45 CEST.
Match-ups: There are two contests in the first round which pit a sixth-division side against a Bundesliga outfit. FC 08 Villingen welcome Schalke 04, while BFC Preussen will play 1. FC Köln. Teams in the Oberliga can also look forward to a clash with Bundesliga opposition. FV Ravensburg come up against FC Augsburg, whilst SC Hauenstein have been drawn against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Regionalliga side FC Carl Zeiss Jena will play the cup holders Bayern München.
The final: The Olympic Stadium in Berlin has been the host venue for the cup final since 1985. The first final in Berlin saw FC Bayern lose 2-1 to Bayer 05 Uerdingen in May 1985. This year’s final will be played on 27th May 2017.
Route to the final: Teams must overcome six sides to lift the trophy next May, with every game being a knockout fixture. If the scores are level at the end of 90 minutes, the game goes into extra time and then penalties if necessary.
64 teams: 64 teams are taking part in the DFB Cup this season. Along with the 36 sides who competed in the first and second divisions last season, there are also the four best-placed teams from the third division in 2015/16. 24 further clubs from the 21 DFB national associations make up the starting field, largely qualifying through the regional cup competitions.
Serial winners: Bayern München hold the record for the most DFB Cup triumphs. Bayern have won the competition a total of 18 times, most recently on 21st May 2016 against Borussia Dortmund (0-0 a.e.t., 4-3 on pens). In second place are Werder Bremen with six DFB Cups, while Schalke are third with five titles. Bayern are also the team with the most final appearances (21), and have so far managed to defend their title three times. No other team has managed to defend their title more than once. Unsurprisingly, Bayern have also contested the highest number of matches (240), recorded the most victories (180) and scored the most goals (683).
Negative records: The largest number of defeats in the competition is a record held by Hamburger SV (63), while Schalke 04 have conceded the most goals (307). The heaviest defeat for a Bundesliga side against an amateur team occurred in the 2000/01 season, namely when Eintracht Frankfurt were beaten 6-1 by VfB Stuttgart II, in the third division at the time.
Record champion Schweinsteiger: Of all players, Bastian Schweinsteiger has been able to lift the trophy on the most occasions. He won the coveted trophy a total of seven times with his former club FC Bayern. Just behind him are Oliver Kahn, Claudio Pizarro and Philipp Lahm, with six trophies each.
Cup specialists: Three players have managed to win the DFB Cup with three different clubs. They are Klaus Allofs (Düsseldorf, Köln, Bremen), Thomas Kroth (Köln, HSV, Dortmund) and Thorsten Legat (Bremen, Stuttgart, Schalke). Kur Sommerlatt is the only player to have won the trophy three years in a row, winning the competition in 1955 and 1956 with Karlsruher SC and then in 1957 with Bayern München.
Match ball: In the DFB Cup, the home teams can choose which match ball they would like to use. The Bundesliga teams usually all revert to the Bundesliga ball, the Torfabrik. In the final in Berlin, they play with the same match ball as in international matches. This means the last cup final was played with the EURO 2016 ball, the Beau Jeu. The 2017 DFB Cup final will be played using the official Confederations Cup match ball.
Successful coaches: The coaches with the most titles under their belt are Karl-Heinz Feldkamp, Hennes Weisweiler, Udo Lattek, Otto Rehhagel, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Thomas Schaaf. They have all won three titles each. Thomas Schaaf didn’t only win the DFB Cup with Werder Bremen as a coach, but he also won it when he was a player there. This feat has also been accomplished by Ludwig Janda (1860 München and Karlsruhe), Aki Schmidt (Dortmund and Offenbach) and Jupp Heynckes (Gladbach and Bayern).
Top goalscorers: Gerd Müller is the record scorer in the DFB Cup, with 78 goals in total for Bayern München. Ernst Willimowski (1860 München, 1942/43) and Dieter Müller (1. FC Köln 1976/77) both hold the record for the highest number of goals in a single tournament (14). The record number of goals in a single DFB Cup match is seven, scored by three players: Dieter Hoeneβ for VfB Stuttgart against Spandauer SV on 5th August 1978, Ernst Willimowski for 1860 München in a 15-1 win against SS Straβburg on 30th August 1942 and also by Helmut Schön in Dresdner SC’s 13-0 victory over Preuβen Greppin on 28th August 1938. Carsten Jancker scored six goals for 1. FC Kaiserslautern in their 15-0 win over FC Schönberg in August 2001, the most goals ever scored in a single half of a DFB Cup match.
Penalties: Borussia Mönchengladbach have taken part in the most penalty shootouts in the DFB Cup to date. They have only won five of 15 though. Losing ten penalty shootouts is also a cup record. In comparison, Bayern München have won ten out of 14 penalty shootouts, a record high for the tournament. The longest penalty shootout occurred in a match between VfB Stuttgart and SV Sandhausen in the first round of the DFB Cup in the 1995/96 season. Both teams managed to convert each of their first twelve penalties. In the end, VfB Stuttgart lost 13-12 after Hendrik Herzog missed the 13th penalty for Stuttgart, the second penalty he had taken in the shootout.
Attendance record: The record attendance in the history of the DFB Cup was in the 2008 semi-final between Borussia Dortmund and Carl Zeiss Jena. 80,078 supporters watched Dortmund win 3-0 in the Signal Iduna Park.
First-round nerves: Since 2000, Bundesliga teams have had to play away from home against a lower-league team in the first round of the tournament. Since then, a Bundesliga team has been knocked out of the tournament in the first round on 48 of 288 occasions. There were a record number of cup upsets in the 2012/13 season, with six Bundesliga teams knocked out of the tournament in the first round.
Two qualified sixth-tier clubs: The two lowest ranked clubs this year are FC Villingen and BFC Preussen from the sixth division. No clubs from lower than fifth division qualified last year. Villingen are the current Southern Baden Cup holders, while Preussen won the Berlin Cup last season.
Five debutants: This season, five teams are taking part in the DFB Cup for the very first time. Alongside SV Drochtersen/Assel, 1. FC Germania Egestorf/Langreder and Eintracht Norderstedt who all play in the Regionalliga Nord, there is FV Ravensburg from the Oberliga Baden-Württemburg Oberliga, while SC Hauenstein come from the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar.
Trophy: The DFB cup is exactly 52cm tall and weighs 12.5lb. Art experts value the trophy at around €100,000, although some say it’s priceless. The same trophy has been used since 1965 and was designed by Wilhelm Nagel, a goldsmith from Cologne. There is room on the base for the winners’ names to be engraved until 2020.
Goal-line technology: Since its premiere in the 2015 final, goal-line technology has been in use in all rounds of the DFB Cup – at least theoretically. There are two important requirements for it to be available. Firstly, the technology has to already be available in the stadium, which is only the case in 18 of them. Secondly, the ball that the home team use has to be compatible with the technology. The only ball which falls into this category is the Torfabrik. Because Bundesliga teams do not enjoy the right to play at home in the first round, the technology will only be in use in the second round at the earliest. Although FC Villingen (Schwarzwald-Stadion in Freiburg) and 1860 München (Allianz Arena) will play their ties in Bundesliga stadiums, they do not play with a ball which is compatible with the technology.
