The 2021–22 DFB-Pokal was the 79th season of the annual German football cup competition. Sixty-four teams participated in the competition, including all teams from the previous year's Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga. The competition began on 6 August 2021 with the first of six rounds and ended on 21 May 2022 with the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, a nominally neutral venue, which has hosted the final since 1985.[1] The DFB-Pokal is considered the second-most important club title in German football after the Bundesliga championship. The DFB-Pokal is run by the German Football Association (DFB).
Representatives of the regional associations 24 representatives of 21 regional associations of the DFB, qualified (in general) through the 2020–21 Verbandspokal[note 2]
The DFB-Pokal began with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, along with the top four finishers of the 3. Liga, were automatically qualified for the tournament. Of the remaining slots, 21 were given to the cup winners of the regional football associations, the Verbandspokal. The three remaining slots were given to the three regional associations with the most men's teams, which were Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and Westphalia. The best-placed amateur team of the Regionalliga Bayern was given the spot for Bavaria. For Lower Saxony, the Lower Saxony Cup was split into two paths: one for 3. Liga and Regionalliga Nord teams, and the other for amateur teams. The winners of each path qualified. For Westphalia, the best-placed team of the Regionalliga West also qualified.[17] As every team was entitled to participate in local tournaments which qualified for the association cups, every team could in principle compete in the DFB-Pokal. Reserve teams and combined football sections were not permitted to enter, along with no two teams of the same association or corporation.[19]
Draw
The draws for the different rounds were conducted as follows:[19]
For the first round, the participating teams were split into two pots of 32 teams each. The first pot contained all teams which qualified through their regional cup competitions, the best four teams of the 3. Liga, and the bottom four teams of the 2. Bundesliga. Every team from this pot was drawn to a team from the second pot, which contained all remaining professional teams (all the teams of the Bundesliga and the remaining fourteen 2. Bundesliga teams). The teams from the first pot were set as the home team in the process.
The two-pot scenario was also applied for the second round, with the remaining 3. Liga and/or amateur team(s) in the first pot and the remaining Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga teams in the other pot. Once again, the 3. Liga and/or amateur team(s) served as hosts. This time the pots did not have to be of equal size though, depending on the results of the first round. Theoretically, it was even possible that there could be only one pot, if all of the teams from one of the pots from the first round had beat all the others in the second pot. Once one pot was empty, the remaining pairings were drawn from the other pot, with the first-drawn team for a match serving as hosts.
For the remaining rounds, the draw was conducted from just one pot. Any remaining 3. Liga and/or amateur team(s) were the home team if drawn against a professional team. In every other case, the first-drawn team served as hosts.
Match rules
Teams met in one game per round. Matches took place for 90 minutes, with two halves of 45 minutes each. If still tied after regulation, 30 minutes of extra time were played, consisting of two periods of 15 minutes each. If the score was still level after this, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out. A coin toss would decide who took the first penalty.[19] A maximum of nine players could be listed on the substitute bench, while a maximum of five substitutions were allowed.[20] However, each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.[21] From the round of 16 onward, a video assistant referee was appointed for all DFB-Pokal matches. Though technically possible, VAR was not used for home matches of Bundesliga clubs prior to the round of 16 in order to provide a uniform approach to all matches.[22]
Suspensions
If a player received five yellow cards in the competition, he was then suspended from the next cup match. Similarly, receiving a second yellow card suspended a player from the next cup match. If a player received a direct red card, they were suspended a minimum of one match, but the German Football Association reserved the right to increase the suspension.[19]
Champion qualification
The winners of the DFB-Pokal earned automatic qualification for the group stage of next year's edition of the UEFA Europa League. If they had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League through position in the Bundesliga, then the spot would go to the team in sixth place, and the league's second qualifying round spot would go to the team in seventh place. The winners also hosted the DFL-Supercup at the start of the next season, and faced the champions of the previous year's Bundesliga, unless the same team won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, completing a double. In that case, the runners-up of the Bundesliga would take the spot and host instead.
All draws were held at the German Football Museum in Dortmund, on a Sunday evening at 18:00 after each round (unless noted otherwise). The draws were televised on ARD's Sportschau, broadcast on Das Erste. From the quarter-finals onwards, the draw for the DFB-Pokal Frauen also took place at the same time.[23]
The rounds of the 2021–22 competition were scheduled as follows:[1]
A total of sixty-three matches took place, starting with the first round on 6 August 2021 and culminating with the final on 21 May 2022 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Times up to 30 October 2021 and from 27 March 2022 are CEST (UTC+2). Times from 31 October 2021 to 26 March 2022 are CET (UTC+1).
First round
The draw for the first round was held on 4 July 2021 at 18:30, with Thomas Broich drawing the matches.[24][25] The thirty-two matches took place from 6 to 25 August 2021.[1]
Note: The match originally ended 1–3 for Wolfsburg after extra time. Wolfsburg used a total of six substitutes, while only five were allowed, and were disqualified after a protest by Preußen Münster.[26]
The draw for the second round was held on 29 August 2021 at 18:30, with Ronald Rauhe drawing the matches.[23][29][30] The sixteen matches took place from 26 to 27 October 2021.[1]
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 31 October 2021 at 18:30.[23] The matches were drawn by Peter Zimmermann, the chairman of SG Ahrtal, one of the football clubs affected by the 2021 floods in Germany.[31][32] The eight matches took place from 18 to 19 January 2022.[1]
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 30 January 2022 at 19:15. Felix Neureuther was scheduled to draw the matches, but had to cancel; the draw was then performed by Norbert Dickel.[33][34] The four matches will take place from 1 to 2 March 2022.[1]
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 6 March 2022, with Laura Nolte drawing the matches.[23][35][36] The two matches will take place from 19 to 20 April 2022.[1]
The following were the top scorers of the DFB-Pokal, sorted first by number of goals, and then alphabetically if necessary.[37] Goals scored in penalty shoot-outs are not included.
^The three regions with the most participating teams in their league competitions (Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and Westphalia) were allowed to enter two teams for the competition.
^The Berlin Football Association registered BFC Dynamo for the DFB-Pokal; however, on 1 July 2021, another club, later revealed to be Blau-Weiß Berlin, filed an appeal against this decision with the DFB Federal Court.[6] The appeal was turned down on 26 July 2021, allowing BFC Dynamo to participate in the DFB-Pokal.[7]
^The amateurs' path of the Lower Saxony Cup was abandoned on 19 May 2021. VfL Oldenburg was awarded the DFB-Pokal berth after a draw between the remaining participants.[8]
^The Rhineland Cup was completed on 24 July 2021, after the DFB-Pokal registration deadline.[10] Therefore, a "qualification match" was played between Rot-Weiß Koblenz, the best-ranked remaining team, and VfB Linz, who were drawn from the other remaining participants.[11][12]
^On 24 April 2021, the Saxony-Anhalt Cup was paused and continued in 2021–22 starting with the round of 16. The 3. Liga teams Hallescher FC and 1. FC Magdeburg played a "qualification match" to determine the DFB-Pokal participant.[13] On 28 May 2021, this decision was overturned by the association court.[14] The dispute was settled on 23 June 2021, allowing Magdeburg to participate in the DFB-Pokal.[15]
^Sportfreunde Lotte qualified regardless of the outcome of the final of the Westphalian Cup, as Preußen Münster, the other finalists, already qualified for the DFB-Pokal through their Regionalliga West position.[18]
^Due to special circumstances, one match was played on 25 August 2021.
^The VfL Oldenburg v Fortuna Düsseldorf match took place at the Marschweg-Stadion instead of VfL Oldenburg's home stadium, the Stadion Alexanderstraße.
^The Bremer SV v Bayern Munich match, originally scheduled on 6 August 2021, 20:45, was postponed because Bremer SV was put in quarantine, after several positive SARS‑CoV‑2 tests by their players.[27][28]
^The Bremer SV v Bayern Munich match took place at the Wohninvest Weserstadion instead of Bremer SV's home stadium, the Stadion am Panzenberg.
