2008–09 DFB-Pokal

The DFB Cup 2008-09 is the 56th edition of the annual nationwide cup competition. It will start in August 2008 and end on May 30, 2009.

Due to a decision made in 2006, reserve teams from professional clubs are not allowed to compete any more.

Participating clubs

There will be 64 teams competing in the first round:

Fußball-Bundesliga 2007-08 all clubs	Second Fußball-Bundesliga 2007-08 all clubs	Fußball-Regionalliga 2007-08 champions and runners-up from both conferences	Winners of 21 regional cup competitions
FC Bayern München Werder Bremen FC Schalke 04 Hamburger SV VfL Wolfsburg VfB Stuttgart Bayer 04 Leverkusen Hannover 96 Eintracht Frankfurt Hertha BSC Karlsruher SC VfL Bochum Borussia Dortmund Energie Cottbus Arminia Bielefeld 1. FC Nürnberg Hansa Rostock MSV Duisburg	Borussia Mönchengladbach TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 1. FC Köln 1. FSV Mainz 05 SC Freiburg SpVgg Greuther Fürth Alemannia Aachen SV Wehen Wiesbaden FC St. Pauli TuS Koblenz TSV 1860 München VfL Osnabrück 1. FC Kaiserslautern FC Augsburg Kickers Offenbach FC Erzgebirge Aue SC Paderborn 07 FC Carl Zeiss Jena	Rot-Weiß Ahlen Rot-Weiß Oberhausen FSV Frankfurt FC Ingolstadt 04	Holstein Kiel (Schleswig-Holstein) ASV Bergedorf 85 (Hamburg)2 FC Oberneuland (Bremen) Eintracht Nordhorn (Niedersachsen) FC Hansa Lüneburg (Niedersachsen)1, 3 TSG Neustrelitz (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) Tennis Borussia Berlin (Berlin) SV Babelsberg 03 (Brandenburg) Hallescher FC (Sachsen-Anhalt) Chemnitzer FC (Sachsen) Rot-Weiß Erfurt (Thüringen) FC Wegberg-Beeck (Mittelrhein) Rot-Weiss Essen (Nordrhein) Preußen Münster (Westfalen) VfB Fichte Bielefeld (Westfalen)1 SV Eintracht Trier 05 (Rheinland) SV Niederauerbach (Südwest)4 FC 08 Homburg (Saarland) SV Darmstadt 98 (Hessen) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 (Nordbaden) ASV Durlach (Südbaden) SC Pfullendorf (Württemberg) SpVgg Unterhaching (Bayern) SpVgg Ansbach 09 (Bayern)1

¹ Finalists from the three regions with the most participating teams in their league competitions are also allowed to compete
² ASV Bergedorf 85 qualified as regional cup finalists because winners FC St. Pauli reserve are not allowed to compete.
³ The football sections of Lüneburger SK and Lüneburger SV will merge to create FC Hansa Lüneburg for the 2008-09 season.
⁴ SV Niederauerbach qualified as regional cup finalists because winners 1. FC Kaiserslautern II are not allowed to compete.

Draw

For the first round, the participating teams are split into two pots. The first pot contains all teams which have qualified through their regional cup competitions, the teams which were promoted from the Regionalligen and the bottom four teams of the Second Bundesliga. Every team from this pot will be drawn to a team from the second pot, which contains all remaining professional teams. The teams from the first pot will be set as the home team in the process.

The two-pot scenario will also be applied for the second round, with the remaining amateur teams in the first pot and the remaining professional teams in the other pot. Once one pot is empty, the remaining pairings will be drawn from the other pot with the first-drawn team for a match serving as hosts. For the remaining rounds, the draw will be conducted from just one pot. Any remaining amateur team will be the home team if drawn against a professional team. In every other case, the first-drawn team will serve as hosts.

The draw for the first round was held on July 6, 2008

Scheduled dates

• Round 1: August 8-10, 2008

Matches: Rot-Weiss Erfurt vs. FC Bayern München
Eintracht Nordhorn vs. SV Werder Bremen SV Niederauerbach vs. 1. FC Köln FC 08 Homburg vs. Schalke 04 SC Pfullendorf vs. Eintracht Frankfurt Spvgg Ansbach vs. Karlsruher SC ASV Bergedorf 85 vs. MSV Duisburg Tennis Borussia Berlin vs. Energie Cottbus SpVgg Unterhaching vs. SC Freiburg FC Carl Zeiss Jena vs. 1. FC Kaiserslautern Holstein Kiel vs. FC Hansa Rostock SV Babelsberg 03 vs. FSV Mainz 05 SC Preußen Münster vs. VfL Bochum FC Oberneuland Bremen vs. TuS Koblenz FC Erzgebirge Aue vs. St. Pauli SC Rot-Weiß Oberhausen vs. Bayer Leverkusen Rot-Weiß Essen vs. Borussia Dortmund Hallescher FC vs. Hannover 96 ASV Durlach vs. DSC Arminia Bielefeld TSG Neustrelitz vs. 1860 München SV Darmstadt 98 vs. SV Wehen Wiesbaden VfB Fichte Bielefeld vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach Kickers Offenbach vs. SpVgg Greuther Fürth FSV Frankfurt vs. VfL Osnabrück SV Eintracht Trier vs. Hertha BSC Berlin SC Paderborn vs. FC Augsburg Chemnitzer FC vs. TSG Hoffenheim FC Hansa Lüneburg vs. VfB Stuttgart Rot-Weiß Ahlen vs. 1. FC Nürnberg FC Wegberg-Beeck vs. Alemannia Aachen 1. FC Heidenheim vs. VfL Wolfsburg FC Ingolstadt vs. Hamburger SV

• Round 2: September 23-24, 2008
• Round 3: January 27-28, 2009
• Quarterfinals: March 3-4, 2009
• Semifinals: April 21-22, 2009
• Final: May 30, 2009 at Berlin.