DFB-Pokal Frauen


The DFB-Pokal Frauen is the main national women's football cup competition in Germany, thus the female counterpart to the DFB-Pokal. It was created in 1980, and since 1991 includes Eastern teams as well. The most recent champions are VfL Wolfsburg. FFC Frankfurt has won the most titles with nine. The final has, with the exception of the 1983 final, always been held on the same day prior to the men's final. Since 1985 the final has thus been held in Berlin. Only in 1983, it was held in the city of Frankfurt. This routine changed in 2010 when the finale was the DFB gave the final to the city of Cologne. It ever stayed in the city and was held at the RheinEnergieStadion. The final usually takes place on a weekend or holiday in early May, independently from the men's finale, in order to gain more attention.

Format

Participation

All clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga are allowed to compete in the cup as are the clubs which gained promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga. Also the winners of the regional cup competitions compete in the cup. As an exception to these rules, clubs' second teams are not allowed to participate in the DFB-Pokal. When a second team wins its regional cup, that team's regional association may send another team to the DFB-Pokal only if the cup winning second team has not also achieved promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga.

Seeding

Of the qualified teams, not all have to compete in the first round. Exactly 32 teams have to compete in the second round of the tournament, so in the first round the number of matches is determined by the number of excess teams, resulting in one match for each team after the 32nd. The teams that do not have to compete in the first round are the best finishers from the previous Bundesliga season, the number again determined by the number of entrants to the tournament.
The pairings for round one, two, and three are not entirely random as there is a commission allocating the clubs to two or four groups as they see fit. These groups correspond with the regional provenance of the clubs. In the third round the commission can decide not to allocate the contestants to any groups. Within those groups the clubs are again separated, this time depending on the league they play in. For the draw, clubs from the Bundesligas are put in one pot and the rest in a second pot. Non-Bundesliga clubs automatically have home advantage against clubs from the Bundesligas.

Match rules

All games are held over two 45-minute halves with the winner advancing to the next round. In case of a draw, the game gets an extended by two 15-minute halves. If the score is still level after 120 minutes the winner is decided by penalty shootout. In the final no extra time is added in case of a draw after 90 minutes, instead the penalty shootout follows immediately.

Winners

Before the reunification of Germany the cup competition included teams from West Germany only.
YearWinnerResultRunner UpVenue
1980–81Bergisch Gladbach5–0TuS WörrstadtStuttgart
1981–82Bergisch Gladbach3–0VfL WildeshausenFrankfurt am Main
1982–83KBC Duisburg3–0FSV FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main
1983–84Bergisch Gladbach2–0VfR Eintracht WolfsburgFrankfurt am Main
1984–85FSV Frankfurt1–1 KBC DuisburgBerlin
1985–86Siegen2–0Bergisch GladbachBerlin
1986–87Siegen5–2STV LövenichBerlin
1987–88Siegen4–0Bayern MunichBerlin
1988–89Siegen5–1FSV FrankfurtBerlin
1989–90FSV Frankfurt1–0Bayern MunichBerlin
1990–91Grün-Weiß Brauweiler1–0SiegenBerlin
1991–92FSV Frankfurt1–0SiegenBerlin
1992–93Siegen1–1 Grün-Weiß BrauweilerBerlin
1993–94Grün-Weiß Brauweiler2–1SiegenBerlin
1994–95FSV Frankfurt3–1SiegenBerlin
1995–96FSV Frankfurt2–1Klinge SeckachBerlin
1996–97Grün-Weiß Brauweiler3–1Eintracht RheineBerlin
1997–98Duisburg6–2FSV FrankfurtBerlin
1998–99FFC Frankfurt1–0DuisburgBerlin
1999–2000FFC Frankfurt2–1Sportfreunde SiegenBerlin
2000–01FFC Frankfurt2–1Flaesheim-HillenBerlin
2001–02FFC Frankfurt5–0HamburgBerlin
2002–03FFC Frankfurt1–0DuisburgBerlin
2003–04Turbine Potsdam3–0FFC FrankfurtBerlin
2004–05Turbine Potsdam3–0FFC FrankfurtBerlin
2005–06Turbine Potsdam2–0FFC FrankfurtBerlin
2006–07FFC Frankfurt1–1 DuisburgBerlin
2007–08FFC Frankfurt5–1SaarbrückenBerlin
2008–09Duisburg7–0Turbine PotsdamBerlin
2009–10Duisburg1–0FF USV JenaCologne
2010–11FFC Frankfurt2–0Turbine PotsdamCologne
2011–12Bayern Munich2–0FFC FrankfurtCologne
2012–13VfL Wolfsburg3–2Turbine PotsdamCologne
2013–141. FFC Frankfurt3–0SGS EssenCologne
2014–15VfL Wolfsburg3–0Turbine PotsdamCologne
2015–16VfL Wolfsburg2–1SC SandCologne
2016–17VfL Wolfsburg2–1SC SandCologne
2017–18VfL Wolfsburg0–0 Bayern MunichCologne
2018–19VfL Wolfsburg1–0SC FreiburgCologne
2019–20VfL Wolfsburg3–3 SGS EssenCologne

Winners by team

Note: Runner-up of VfL Wolfsburg as VfR Eintracht Wolfsburg