The 2014–15

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

was the 72nd season of the annual German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

cup competition. It began on 15 August 2014 with the first of six rounds and ended on 30 May 2015 with the final at the

Olympiastadion Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to: * Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'') * Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

were the two-time defending champions, having defeated

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

in the 2014 final, but were knocked out in the semi-finals by the same team in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

won the final against Dortmund 3–1 to win their first title.

Participating clubs

The following 64 teams qualified for the competition: ¹ The three regions with the most participating teams in their league competitions (Bavaria, Lower Saxony, Westphalia) are allowed to enter two teams for the competition.
² As Hesse finalists SV Darmstadt 98 qualified through their league position, Kickers Offenbach were guaranteed a spot regardless of the final result.
³ FV Illertissen qualified as 2nd placed team in the 2013–14 Regionalliga Bayern as winners Bayern Munich II are ineligible to play in the DFB-Pokal.

Schedule

The rounds of the 2014–15 competition were scheduled as follows: * First round: 15–18 August 2014 * Second round: 28–29 October 2014 * Round of 16: 3–4 March 2015 * Quarter-finals: 7–8 April 2015 * Semi-finals: 28–29 April 2015 * Final: 30 May 2015 at

Draw

The draws for the different rounds were conducted as following: For the first round, the participating teams were split into two pots. The first pot contained all teams which had 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. 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/amateur teams in the first pot and the remaining professional teams in the other 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/amateur team was the home team if drawn against a professional team. In every other case, the first-drawn team served as hosts.

Matches

First round

The draw for the first round was on 1 June.

Fernanda Brandão Fernanda Brandão Gonçalves da Silva (born 3 May 1983) is a Brazilian singer and dancer based in Munich, Germany. She became famous under her stage name Laava, then with Latin pop trio, . Early life Brandão was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, ...

and

Horst Hrubesch Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Hamburger SV. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as well as the European C ...

drew the matches.

Second round

The draw for the second round was held on 23 August. Marcus Sorg and

Vanessa Huppenkothen Vanessa Huppenkothen Labra is a Mexican model and television presenter for ESPN Deportes and ESPN Mexico. Early life The daughter of a Mexican mother and a German father, the football player Dieter Huppenkothen, she was born in Mexico City. ...

drew the matches. The lowest ranked teams left in the competition were

Würzburger Kickers Würzburger Kickers is a German association football club playing in Würzburg, Bavaria. In pre-World War II football, the club competed briefly at the highest level in the Bezirksliga Bayern, and during the war, in the Gauliga Bayern. Post-war, ...

, 1. FC Magdeburg and

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs in ...

from the fourth tier of German football

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 29 October.

and

Judith Rakers Judith Deborah Rakers (born 6 January 1976) is a German journalist and television presenter. Biography Rakers was born in Paderborn, West Germany, and grew up in Bad Lippspringe with her single father. After graduating at Pelizaeus-Gymna ...

drew the matches. The lowest ranked team left in the competition was

from level four in German football

Quarter-finals

The draw was made on 8 March 2015. Thomas Schneider and

Nia Künzer Nia Tsholofelo Künzer (born 18 January 1980) is a retired German women's football player. Early life She was born in Mochudi, Botswana, as Nia Tsholofelo Künzer (her first name being Swahili for "aim" or "intention" and her second name being ...

drew the matches. The lowest ranked team left in the competition was

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...

from the 3. Liga, the third level in German football. The matches will be played on 7–8 April 2015. ---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

The draw was made on 8 April 2015.

and Rico Weiler drew the pairings. The lowest ranked team left in the competition was Arminia Bielefeld from the 3. Liga, the third level in German football. The matches were played on 28–29 April 2015. ----

Final

Bracket

The following is the bracket which the DFB-Pokal resembled. Numbers in parentheses next to the match score represent the results of a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

. Teams that are bolded advanced on. If "aet" is in parentheses next to a team name, it means that they advanced after extra time. If "p" is in parentheses next to a team name, it means that they advanced after a penalty shoot-out.

References

External links

DFB-Pokal on kicker.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dfb-Pokal 2014-15 2014-15 2014–15 in German football cups