The draw for the first round of the 2024/25 DFB-Pokal took place on German TV programme Sportschau on Saturday, 1st June 2024. The first competitive game of the new season will see SV Werder visit Energie Cottbus, who were promoted to the 3. Liga at the end of the previous campaign. The match will take place between 16th and 19th August, with the exact date and time yet to be announced.
The draw at the German Football Museum in Dortmund was carried out by DFB vice-president Peter Frymuth along with former Werder striker Nils Petersen. SV Werder could have faced 32 possible opponents, including four teams each from the second and third tiers, the winners of each regional Landespokal, and three more teams from the three regional associations with the most sides.
Head coach Ole Werner: “It’ll be a great Pokal atmosphere in a difficult stadium to visit, just like at was when we played there two years ago. Promotion will give them both energy and a sense of euphoria. We have to be prepared for that. As the Bundesliga side though, the onus is on us to beat Cottbus and get into the second round.”
Head of professional football Clemens Fritz: “The draw brings back memories of our game against them two years ago. We managed to get through that time, but we could tell that it certainly wasn’t a foregone conclusion. The game will be a challenging one for us – we have to be prepared for another feisty cup tie – but we’re aiming to live up to our status as favourites and progress.”
Marco Friedl: “We’re playing Cottbus once again after only a short space of time. We all know how difficult we found it last time out. There’s no question that we’re the favourites, but we need a great performance and we need to show what we can do on the pitch. If we can manage that, I’m confident we’ll win the game.”
Carl Zeiss Jena - Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Preußen Münster - VfB Stuttgart
Alemannia Aachen - Holstein Kiel
Viktoria Berlin - FC Augsburg
Teutonia Ottensen - SV Darmstadt 98
Schott Mainz - Greuther Fürth
Greifswalder FC - 1. FC Union Berlin
VfL Osnabrück - SC Freiburg
Hallescher FC - FC St. Pauli
Hansa Rostock - Hertha BSC
VfR Aalen - FC Schalke 04
Offenbacher Kickers - 1. FC Magdeburg
SSV Ulm - FC Bayern München
SV Sandhausen - 1. FC Köln
FC Ingolstadt - 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Wehen Wiesbaden - 1. FSV Mainz 05
Rot-Weiß Essen - RB Leipzig
TuS Koblenz - VfL Wolfsburg
Energie Cottbus - Werder Bremen
1. FC Saarbrücken - 1. FC Nürnberg
FC 08 Villingen - 1. FC Heidenheim
VfV Hildesheim - SV Elversberg
1. FC Phönix Lübeck - Borussia Dortmund
Würzburger Kickers - TSG Hoffenheim
SV Meppen - Hamburger SV
Bremer SV - SC Paderborn
Sportfreunde Lotte - Karlsruher SC
Erzgebirge Aue - Borussia Mönchengladbach
Eintracht Braunschweig - Eintracht Frankfurt
SSV Jahn Regensburg - VfL Bochum
Arminia Bielefeld - Hannover 96
Dynamo Dresden - Fortuna Düsseldorf
First round: 16th – 19th August 2024 (27th/28th August for Supercup participants)
Second round: 29th/30th October 2024
Third round: 3rd/4th December 2024
Quarter-finals: 4th/5th February and 25th/26th February 2025
Semi-finals: 1st/2nd April 2025
Final, Berlin Olympiastadion: 24th May 2025
