Five facts about the DFB-Pokal

One city, two cup winners

26 teams have managed to win the DFB-Pokal to date, with four cities producing two different cup winners. The Leipzig duo of VfB (1936) and RB (2022 and 2023) have won the title, while Essen had two cup winners in the 1950s: Rot-Weiss (1953) and Schwarz-Weiß (1959). In addition to Bayern (20x), city rivals 1860 Munich have also won the DFB-Pokal (1942 and 1964), with Rapid Vienna (1938) and First Vienna FC (1943) lifting the trophy too.

81st edition

This year’s DFB-Pokal will be the 81st edition of the competition. TSG will be involved for the 21st time this season; SpVgg Greuther Fürth, who Hoffenheim have already met four times in the cup, have been their most frequent opponents.

So close so often

MSV Duisburg have reached the DFB-Pokal final four times so far, but the club have never won the title. No club has reached the final more frequently without winning it once. Alemannia Aachen (three times), Hertha BSC (twice, plus the amateur team once) and VfL Bochum (twice) have also gotten to the final hurdle on several occasions without ever overcoming it.

Valuable trophy

The current cup has been presented to the winner since 1965. The trophy is 52 centimetres tall and weighs 6.25 kilograms. The material value of the cup is estimated to be around €35,000, although the symbolic value exceeds this many times over.

Berlin, Berlin, we’re going to Berlin

Since 1985 the DFB-Pokal final has taken place at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, where the winner has been crowned 45 times in total. Beforehand the final venue switched, with previous winners crowned in the likes of Ludwigshafen, Kassel, Augsburg and Braunschweig. Hanover is the second most frequently used final venue, with the showpiece event taking place in the Lower Saxony state capital nine times. A team has won the cup in their own stadium twice: Karlsruher SC in 1956 (3-1 versus HSV) plus 1. FC Köln in 1983 (1-0 against Fortuna Köln).