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The 2015–16
DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...
was the 73rd season of the annual German
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
cup competition. Sixty-four teams participated in the competition, including all teams from the previous year's
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
and the 2. Bundesliga. It began on 7 August 2015 with the first of six rounds and ended on 21 May 2016 with the final at the Olympiastadion in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, a nominally neutral venue, which has hosted the final since 1985. The DFB-Pokal is considered the second-most important club title in German football after the
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
championship. The DFB-Pokal is run by the
German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...
(DFB). The defending champions were
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
side
VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL 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 Wolfsburg. I ...
, after they beat
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
3–1 in the previous final on 30 May 2015. They were knocked out of the competition in the second round by record title-holders
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
, losing 1–3. The Bavarians eventually progressed to the final where they defeated
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
4–3 on penalties, as the match finished 0–0 after
extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
, to win their eighteenth title, and third in four years. The winner of the DFB-Pokal earned automatic qualification to the
2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played between Ajax and ...
group stages. However, as
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
already qualified for the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
via their league position,
Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...
, the sixth placed team in the
2015–16 Bundesliga The 2015–16 Bundesliga was the 53rd season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. The season started on 14 August 2015 and ended on 14 May 2016. Bayern Munich were the defending champions, after winning their 24th Bundeslig ...
took this Europa League place, and Mainz's Europa League third qualifying round spot went to
Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...
. As
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal, completing a double,
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
, the runners-up of the Bundesliga will host the 2016 DFL-Supercup.


Participating clubs

The following 64 teams qualified for the competition:


Map


Format


Participation

The DFB-Pokal began with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of the
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
and 2. Bundesliga, along with the top 4 finishers of the
3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...
automatically qualified for the tournament. Of the remaining slots, 21 were given to the cup winners of the regional football associations, the ''
Verbandspokal A Verbandspokal (English: "association cup") is a regional men's association football competition in Germany. There are 21 Verbandspokal competitions which function as qualifying tournaments for the following season's DFB-Pokal, the premier Germ ...
''. The 3 remaining slots were given to the three regional associations with the most men's teams, which at the rime were Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and Westphalia. The runner-up of the cup for Lower Saxony was given the slot. The best amateur team of the Regionalliga Bayern and Oberliga Westfalen were given the slot for Bavaria and Westphalia, respectively. 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 were not permitted to enter. No two teams of the same association or corporation could participate in the DFB-Pokal.


Draw

The draws for the different rounds were conducted as following: For the first round, the participating teams were split into two pots of 32 teams each. 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 (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 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 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 other than the final, 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. A match took place for 90 minutes, with two halves of 45 minutes. If still tied after regulation, 30 minutes of extra time were played, consisting of two periods of 15 minutes. If the score was still level after this, the match was decided by 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 pe ...
. A coin toss decided who took the first penalty.


Cards

If a player received five yellow cards, even throughout multiple seasons, he was then banned from the next cup match. If a player received a second yellow card, they were banned from the next cup match. If a player received a red card, they were banned a minimum of one match, but more could be added by the German Football Association.


Champion qualification

The winner of the DFB-Pokal earns automatic qualification for the group stage of next year's edition of the
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
. As winners
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
had already qualified for the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
by winning the Bundesliga, the spot went to the team in sixth,
Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...
, and the league's second qualifying round spot went to the team in seventh,
Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...
. As Bayern won both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, completing a double, the runner-up of the Bundesliga,
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
, hosted the 2016 DFL-Supercup at the start of the next season.


Schedule

The rounds of the 2015–16 competition were scheduled as follows:


Matches

A total of sixty-three matches took place, starting with the first round on 7 August 2015 and culminating with the final on 21 May 2016 at the Olympiastadion in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
.


First round

The draw for the first round was held on 10 June 2015. Former national team player
Karlheinz Förster Karlheinz Helmut Förster (born 25 July 1958) is a German former professional footballer who played as a central defender. The younger brother of another football defender, Bernd Förster, he was regarded as one of the world's top man-markers a ...
led the draw, with tennis player
Andrea Petkovic Andrea Petkovic (, ; born 9 September 1987) is a German former professional tennis player. Born in Tuzla, SFR Yugoslavia, to Serbian father Zoran and Bosniak mother Amira, she moved to Germany at six months old and turned professional in 2006 ...
drawing from the pots. The thirty-two matches took place from 7 to 10 August 2015. As usual, a small number of lower-division teams had to play their home matches at different locations than their usual home grounds. This includes TuS Erndtebrück, who had to play in the
Leimbachstadion Leimbachstadion is a multi-use stadium in Siegen, Germany. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and is the home stadium of Sportfreunde Siegen. The stadium is able to hold about 18,500 people. References

...
in
Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...
,
Bremer SV Bremer SV is a German association football club, founded in 1906 and based in the city of Bremen. The club play their home games at the Panzenberg Stadium and currently competes in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Nord. History Bremer SV was form ...
, who had to switch to the Sportpark am Vinnenweg in
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
, and
FC Nöttingen FC Nöttingen is a Football in Germany, German association football club from the Nöttingen district of Remchingen, Baden-Württemberg. The footballers are part of a sports club of more than 500 members that also has departments for table tenni ...
, who had to play in the
Wildparkstadion Wildparkstadion, currently known as BBBank Wildpark for sponsorship reasons, is a football (soccer), football stadium located in Karlsruhe, Germany. It is the home of the football club Karlsruher SC. History The stadium is located northeast of ...
in
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
. ''All times are CEST (
UTC+2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. As standard time (year-round) Principal cities: Pretoria, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Por ...
).''


Second round

The draw for the second round was held on 14 August 2015. Then DFB president
Wolfgang Niersbach Wolfgang Niersbach (born 30 November 1950) is a German sports official and former sports journalist. From 2 March 2012 until 9 November 2015, he was President of the German Football Association (, DFB). Biography Niersbach played football in yout ...
led the draw, with skier
Felix Neureuther Felix Neureuther (; born 26 March 1984) is a German retired FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer and former FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2005, World champion. Early life Born in Munich-Pasing, Neureuther is ...
drawing from the pots. The sixteen matches took place on 27 and 28 October 2015. The lowest ranked team left in the competition was
SSV Reutlingen SSV Reutlingen 05 is a Football in Germany, German association football club from Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg. History The club was founded as FC Arminia Reutlingen and was renamed SV Reutlingen 1905 in 1910. The club merged with 1. Schwimmv ...
from the fifth tier of German football. ''All times are
CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...
(
UTC+1 +01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in: *Central European Time * West Africa Time * Western European Summer Time **Brit ...
).''


Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 1 November 2015. DFB general secretary
Helmut Sandrock Helmut Sandrock (born 15 December 1956 in Übach-Palenberg) is a German football administrator and former Secretary General of the German Football Association (, DFB). From 2000 to 2002, he was Chief executive officer of MSV Duisburg. As part of ...
led the draw, with musician Vanessa Mai drawing from the pot. The eight matches took place on 15 and 16 December 2015. The lowest ranked team left in the competition was
SpVgg Unterhaching Spielvereinigung Unterhaching () is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The club is widely known for playing in the first-division association football league ...
from the fourth tier of German football. ''All times are
CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...
(
UTC+1 +01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in: *Central European Time * West Africa Time * Western European Summer Time **Brit ...
).''


Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 16 December 2015. DFB general secretary Helmut Sandrock led the draw, with handballer Carsten Lichtlein drawing from the pot. The four matches took place on 9 and 10 February 2016. The lowest ranked teams left in the competition were
VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...
and 1. FC Heidenheim from the second tier of German football. ''All times are
CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...
(
UTC+1 +01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in: *Central European Time * West Africa Time * Western European Summer Time **Brit ...
).''


Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 10 February 2016. DFB vice-president Peter Frymuth led the draw, with handballer Andreas Wolff drawing from the pot. The two matches took place on 19 and 20 April 2016. All remaining teams left in the competition were from the first tier of German football. ''All times are CEST (
UTC+2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. As standard time (year-round) Principal cities: Pretoria, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Por ...
).'' ----


Final

The final took place on 21 May 2016 at the Olympiastadion in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
.


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 pe ...
.


Top goalscorers

The following are the top scorers of the DFB-Pokal, sorted first by number of goals, and then alphabetically if necessary. Goals scored in penalty shoot-outs are not included.


Broadcasting rights

In Germany, all matches and the "conference" were broadcast live on pay TV via
Sky Sport Sky Sport or Sky Sports may refer to: *Sky Group **Sky Sports, a group of sports television channels available in the UK and Ireland ** Sky Sport (Germany), a group of sports television channels available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, formerl ...
. Selected matches from the first round to the quarter-finals were broadcast on free TV by
Das Erste Das Erste (; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD (broadcaster), ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. ''Das Erste'' is jointly operated by the ARD (broadcaster)#Institutions and member org ...
from ARD. Both semi-final matches and the final were broadcast by both Sky Sport and Das Erste. The following matches were broadcast live on free German television channel Das Erste:


Prize fund

Each participating team received a reward from the TV money and from the central promotional marketing (TV, stadium, and sleeve advertising) by the DFB. It was distributed as about €50 million to the 64 participants of the competition from 2015 to 2016. For wearing the sleeve advertising each participant received, according to the implementing provisions of the DFB-Pokal, €10,000 per game and round.


Notes


References


External links

*
DFB-Pokal on kicker.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dfb-Pokal 2015-16 2015-16 2015–16 in German football cups