The 2011–12 DFB-Pokal was the 69th season of the annual German football cup competition. It commenced on 29 July 2011 with the first of six rounds and concluded on 12 May 2012 with the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
^ abcThe three regions with the most participating teams in their league competitions (Bavaria, Lower Saxony, Westphalia) are allowed to enter two teams for the competition.
^Bavarian Cup runners-up SV Wacker Burghausen had to compete in a play-off against SpVgg Unterhaching, the winners of the match between the losing semi-finalists, for the second Bavarian spot; this play-off was won by Unterhaching.[2]
^Since SV Wehen Wiesbaden will enter the competition via their league placement, runners-up Hessen Kassel will inherit the spot reserved for the cup winners.
^Since Eintracht Braunschweig will enter the competition via their league placement, VfB Oldenburg and TSV Ottersberg as losing semi-finalists played a single match to determine the second Lower Saxony participant. This match was won by Oldenburg.[3]
^Since F.C. Hansa Rostock will enter the competition via their league placement, runners-up Anker Wismar will inherit the spot reserved for the cup winners.
Schedule
The rounds of the 2011–12 competition are scheduled as follows:[4]
The draws for the different rounds are conducted as following:[5] For the first round, the participating teams will be split into two pots. The first pot contains all teams which have qualified through their regional cup competitions, the best four teams of the 3rd Liga 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 3rd Liga/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 3rd Liga/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.