The2018–19DFB-Pokal was the 76th season of the annual Germanfootball cup competition. Sixty-four teams participated in the competition, including all teams from the previous year'sBundesliga and the2. Bundesliga. The competition began on 17 August 2018 with the first of six rounds and ended on 25 May 2019 with the final at theOlympiastadion inBerlin, 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 theGerman Football Association (DFB).

The defending champions wereBundesliga sideEintracht Frankfurt, after they defeatedBayern Munich 3–1 in theprevious final.^[2] Frankfurt were knocked out of the competition in the first round byfourth-division sideSSV Ulm, losing 1–2.

Bayern Munich won thefinal 3–0 againstRB Leipzig for their 19th title. With the win, Bayern completed their 12th domestic double, and therefore played away to2018–19 Bundesliga runners-upBorussia Dortmund in the2019 DFL-Supercup in August 2019. Because Bayern qualified for the Champions League through the Bundesliga, the sixth-place team in the Bundesliga,VfL Wolfsburg, earned qualification for the group stage of the2019–20 edition of theUEFA Europa League, and the league's third second round spot went to the team in seventh, Eintracht Frankfurt.

The following 64 teams qualified for the competition:

The DFB-Pokal began with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of theBundesliga and2. Bundesliga, along with the top four finishers of the3. Liga, automatically qualified for the tournament. Of the remaining slots, 21 were given to the cup winners of the regional football associations, theVerbandspokal. The three remaining slots were given to the three regional associations with the most men's teams, which at the time were Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and Westphalia. The runners-up of theLower Saxony Cup were given the slot, along with the best-placed amateur team of theRegionalliga Bayern. For Westphalia, the winners of a play-off between the best-placed team of theRegionalliga West andOberliga Westfalen also qualified. 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.^[3]

The draws for the different rounds were conducted as following:^[3]

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.

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 ofextra time were played, consisting of two periods of 15 minutes each. If the score was still level after this, the match was decided by apenalty shoot-out. A coin toss would decide who took the first penalty.^[3] A total of seven players were allowed to be listed on the substitute bench, with up to three substitutions being allowed during regulation. After approval by theIFAB in 2016, the use of a fourth substitute was allowed in extra time as part of a pilot project.^[4] From the quarter-finals onward, avideo 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 quarter-finals in order to provide a uniform approach to all matches.^[5]

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.^[3]

The winners of the DFB-Pokal earned automatic qualification for the group stage ofnext year's edition of theUEFA Europa League. As winnersBayern Munich had already qualified for theUEFA Champions League by winning the Bundesliga, the spot went to the team in sixth place,VfL Wolfsburg, and the league's second qualifying round spot went to the team in seventh place,Eintracht Frankfurt. As Bayern won both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, completing a double, the runners-up of the Bundesliga,Borussia Dortmund, hosted the2019 DFL-Supercup at the start of the next season.

All draws were held at theGerman Football Museum inDortmund, on a Sunday evening at 18:00 after each round (unless noted otherwise). The draws were televised onARD'sSportschau, broadcast onDas Erste. From the quarter-finals onwards, the draw for theDFB-Pokal der Frauen also generally took place at the same time.^[6][7]

The rounds of the 2018–19 competition were scheduled as follows:^[1][8]

A total of sixty-three matches took place, starting with the first round on 17 August 2018 and culminating with the final on 25 May 2019 at theOlympiastadion in Berlin.

Times up to 27 October 2018 and from 31 March 2019 areCEST (UTC+2). Times from 28 October 2018 to 30 March 2019 areCET (UTC+1).

The draw for the first round was held on 8 June 2018 at 22:00, withPalina Rojinski drawing the matches.^[9] The thirty-two matches took place from 17 to 20 August 2018.^[10]

1. FC Magdeburg vDarmstadt 98

17 August 2018 (2018-08-17)	1. FC Magdeburg	0–1	Darmstadt 98	Magdeburg
20:45		Report	Kempe 3' (pen.)	Stadium:MDCC-Arena Attendance: 20,165 Referee:Robert Schröder

SV Linx v1. FC Nürnberg

18 August 2018 (2018-08-18)	SV Linx	1–2	1. FC Nürnberg	Kehl[note 9]
15:30	Rubio 21' (pen.)	Report	Ishak 15',88'	Stadium:Rheinstadion Attendance: 5,600 Referee: Sven Waschitzki

SV Elversberg vVfL Wolfsburg

18 August 2018 (2018-08-18)	SV Elversberg	0–1	VfL Wolfsburg	Spiesen-Elversberg
15:30		Report	Ginczek 76'	Stadium:Ursapharm-Arena an der Kaiserlinde Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Lasse Koslowski

TuS Dassendorf vMSV Duisburg

18 August 2018 (2018-08-18)	TuS Dassendorf	0–1	MSV Duisburg	Hamburg[note 11]
15:30		Report	Tashchy 24'	Stadium:Stadion Sander Tannen Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Alexander Sather

Wormatia Worms vWerder Bremen

18 August 2018 (2018-08-18)	Wormatia Worms	1–6	Werder Bremen	Worms
15:30	Mimbala 44'	Report	Osako 9' Kainz 21' Bargfrede 31' Kruse 41' (pen.) M. Eggestein 45+1' J. Eggestein 79'	Stadium:EWR-Arena Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Benedikt Kempkes

SV Drochtersen/Assel vBayern Munich

18 August 2018 (2018-08-18)	SV Drochtersen/Assel	0–1	Bayern Munich	Drochtersen
15:30		Report	Lewandowski 82'	Stadium:Kehdinger Stadion Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Thorben Siewer

1. FC Kaiserslautern v1899 Hoffenheim

18 August 2018 (2018-08-18)	1. FC Kaiserslautern	1–6	1899 Hoffenheim	Kaiserslautern
15:30	Spalvis 33'	Report	Joelinton 6',22',53' Schulz 13' Kadeřábek 51' Brenet 63'	Stadium:Fritz-Walter-Stadion Attendance: 22,818 Referee:Patrick Ittrich

1. CfR Pforzheim vBayer Leverkusen

18 August 2018 (2018-08-18)	1. CfR Pforzheim	0–1	Bayer Leverkusen	Pforzheim
15:30		Report	Alario 27' (pen.)	Stadium:Stadion Holzhof Attendance: 4,725 Referee:Frank Willenborg

SSV Ulm vEintracht Frankfurt

18 August 2018 (2018-08-18)	SSV Ulm	2–1	Eintracht Frankfurt	Ulm
15:30	Kienle 48' Lux 75'	Report	Paciência 90'	Stadium:Donaustadion Attendance: 18,440 Referee: Timo Gerach

Erzgebirge Aue vMainz 05

18 August 2018 (2018-08-18)	Erzgebirge Aue	1–3	Mainz 05	Aue
18:30	Testroet 83'	Report	Maxim 31',65' Quaison 59'	Stadium:Erzgebirgsstadion Attendance: 7,600 Referee:Felix Zwayer

TSV Steinbach Haiger vFC Augsburg

19 August 2018 (2018-08-19)	TSV Steinbach Haiger	1–2	FC Augsburg	Haiger
15:30	Herzig 55'	Report	Richter 14' Hahn 65'	Stadium:Sibre-Sportzentrum Haarwasen Haiger Attendance: 4,204 Referee: Martin Thomsen

Weiche Flensburg vVfL Bochum

19 August 2018 (2018-08-19)	Weiche Flensburg	1–0	VfL Bochum	Flensburg
15:30	Schulz 34'	Report		Stadium:Manfred-Werner-Stadion Attendance: 3,500 Referee: René Rohde

Chemie Leipzig vJahn Regensburg

19 August 2018 (2018-08-19)	Chemie Leipzig	2–1	Jahn Regensburg	Leipzig
15:30	Wendt 69' Druschky 90+1'	Report	Derstroff 20'	Stadium:Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark Attendance: 4,999 Referee: Tobias Reichel

BFC Dynamo v1. FC Köln

19 August 2018 (2018-08-19)	BFC Dynamo	1–9	1. FC Köln	Berlin[note 14]
15:30	Twardzik 19'	Report	Terodde 21',34',41',75' Drexler 44',66' Risse 58' Koziello 61' Schaub 86'	Stadium:Olympiastadion Attendance: 14,357 Referee: Johann Pfeifer

Viktoria Köln vRB Leipzig

19 August 2018 (2018-08-19)	Viktoria Köln	1–3	RB Leipzig	Cologne
15:30	Golley 39'	Report	Poulsen 60' Forsberg 69' Augustin 90+3'	Stadium:Sportpark Höhenberg Attendance: 6,000 Referee:Martin Petersen

1860 Munich vHolstein Kiel

19 August 2018 (2018-08-19)	1860 Munich	1–3	Holstein Kiel	Munich
18:30	Karger 7'	Report	Mühling 74',83' Schindler 87'	Stadium:Städtisches Stadion an der Grünwalder Straße Attendance: 14,200 Referee:Sascha Stegemann

BSC Hastedt vBorussia Mönchengladbach

19 August 2018 (2018-08-19)	BSC Hastedt	1–11	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Bremen[note 16]
18:30	Kücük 88'	Report	Hazard 2' (pen.),42',84' Pléa 8',50',78' Raffael 15',30',66' Neuhaus 39' Hofmann 56'	Stadium:Weserstadion Platz 11 Attendance: 4,997 Referee: Christof Günsch

SC Paderborn vFC Ingolstadt

20 August 2018 (2018-08-20)	SC Paderborn	2–1	FC Ingolstadt	Paderborn
18:30	Hünemeier 34',44'	Report	Kittel 76'	Stadium:Benteler-Arena Attendance: 9,427 Referee:Daniel Siebert

Eintracht Braunschweig vHertha BSC

20 August 2018 (2018-08-20)	Eintracht Braunschweig	1–2	Hertha BSC	Braunschweig
18:30	Fejzullahu 81'	Report	Plattenhardt 38' Ibišević 83'	Stadium:Eintracht-Stadion Attendance: 16,710 Referee:Guido Winkmann

Greuther Fürth vBorussia Dortmund

20 August 2018 (2018-08-20)	Greuther Fürth	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Borussia Dortmund	Fürth
20:45	Ernst 77'	Report	Witsel 90+5' Reus 120+1'	Stadium:Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer Attendance: 15,500 Referee:Manuel Gräfe

The draw for the second round was held on 26 August 2018 at 18:00, withGina Lückenkemper drawing the matches.^[11] The sixteen matches took place from 30 to 31 October 2018.^[12]

SSV Ulm vFortuna Düsseldorf

30 October 2018 (2018-10-30)	SSV Ulm	1–5	Fortuna Düsseldorf	Ulm
18:30	Morina 1'	Report	Ducksch 15',70' Hennings 33' Lukebakio 37',43'	Stadium:Donaustadion Attendance: 17,000 Referee: Florian Badstübner

SV Rödinghausen vBayern Munich

30 October 2018 (2018-10-30)	SV Rödinghausen	1–2	Bayern Munich	Osnabrück[note 18]
20:45	Meyer 49'	Report	Wagner 8' Müller 13' (pen.)	Stadium:Stadion an der Bremer Brücke Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Timo Gerach

Borussia Dortmund vUnion Berlin

31 October 2018 (2018-10-31)	Borussia Dortmund	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Union Berlin	Dortmund
18:30	Pulisic 40' Philipp 73' Reus 120+1' (pen.)	Report	Polter 63',87'	Stadium:Signal Iduna Park Attendance: 72,732 Referee:Guido Winkmann

1. FC Köln vSchalke 04

31 October 2018 (2018-10-31)	1. FC Köln	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–6p)	Schalke 04	Cologne
18:30	Córdoba 43'	Report	Bentaleb 88' (pen.)	Stadium:RheinEnergieStadion Attendance: 50,000 Referee:Harm Osmers
	Penalties
	Höger Özcan Terodde Guirassy Risse Hector Drexler		Burgstaller Nastasić Caligiuri Harit Bentaleb Rudy Uth

Weiche Flensburg vWerder Bremen

31 October 2018 (2018-10-31)	Weiche Flensburg	1–5	Werder Bremen	Lübeck[note 19]
18:30	Ilídio 27'	Report	Pizarro 8' Kainz 38' Klaassen 44' (pen.) Harnik 76',81'	Stadium:Stadion Lohmühle Attendance: 8,637 Referee: Tobias Reichel

RB Leipzig v1899 Hoffenheim

31 October 2018 (2018-10-31)	RB Leipzig	2–0	1899 Hoffenheim	Leipzig
20:45	Werner 48',56'	Report		Stadium:Red Bull Arena Attendance: 21,042 Referee:Marco Fritz

Holstein Kiel vSC Freiburg

31 October 2018 (2018-10-31)	Holstein Kiel	2–1	SC Freiburg	Kiel
20:45	Serra 26' Kinsombi 79'	Report	Petersen 1'	Stadium:Holstein-Stadion Attendance: 9,361 Referee:Sören Storks

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 4 November 2018 at 18:00, with Serdal Celebi drawing the matches.^[13] The eight matches took place from 5 to 6 February 2019.^[14]

Hamburger SV v1. FC Nürnberg

5 February 2019 (2019-02-05)	Hamburger SV	1–0	1. FC Nürnberg	Hamburg
18:30	Özcan 54'	Report		Stadium:Volksparkstadion Attendance: 47,628 Referee:Harm Osmers

1. FC Heidenheim vBayer Leverkusen

5 February 2019 (2019-02-05)	1. FC Heidenheim	2–1	Bayer Leverkusen	Heidenheim
18:30	Dovedan 47' Multhaup 72'	Report	Brandt 44'	Stadium:Voith-Arena Attendance: 11,400 Referee:Robert Hartmann

MSV Duisburg vSC Paderborn

5 February 2019 (2019-02-05)	MSV Duisburg	1–3	SC Paderborn	Duisburg
20:45	Cauly 47'	Report	Tekpetey 52' Pröger 61' Antwi-Adjei 76'	Stadium:Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena Attendance: 12,509 Referee:Sven Jablonski

Holstein Kiel vFC Augsburg

6 February 2019 (2019-02-06)	Holstein Kiel	0–1	FC Augsburg	Kiel
18:30		Report	Gregoritsch 85'	Stadium:Holstein-Stadion Attendance: 11,198 Referee:Frank Willenborg

RB Leipzig vVfL Wolfsburg

6 February 2019 (2019-02-06)	RB Leipzig	1–0	VfL Wolfsburg	Leipzig
18:30	Cunha 9'	Report		Stadium:Red Bull Arena Attendance: 21,135 Referee:Christian Dingert

Schalke 04 vFortuna Düsseldorf

6 February 2019 (2019-02-06)	Schalke 04	4–1	Fortuna Düsseldorf	Gelsenkirchen
20:45	Kutucu 30' Sané 48',87' Uth 53'	Report	Hennings 71'	Stadium:Veltins-Arena Attendance: 56,638 Referee:Manuel Gräfe

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 10 February 2019 at 18:15, withFabian Böhm drawing the matches.^[15] The four matches took place from 2 to 3 April 2019.^[16]

SC Paderborn vHamburger SV

2 April 2019 (2019-04-02)	SC Paderborn	0–2	Hamburger SV	Paderborn
18:30		Report	Lasogga 54',68'	Stadium:Benteler-Arena Attendance: 15,000 Referee:Tobias Welz

FC Augsburg vRB Leipzig

2 April 2019 (2019-04-02)	FC Augsburg	1–2 (a.e.t.)	RB Leipzig	Augsburg
20:45	Finnbogason 90+4'	Report	Werner 74' Halstenberg 120+1' (pen.)	Stadium:WWK Arena Attendance: 25,263 Referee:Tobias Stieler

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 7 April 2019 at 18:00, withLena Goeßling drawing the matches.^[17] The two matches took place on 23 and 24 April 2019.^[18]

23 April 2019 (2019-04-23)

20:45

Hamburger SV	1–3	RB Leipzig
Jatta 24'	Report	Poulsen 12' Janjičić 53' (o.g.) Forsberg 72'

Volksparkstadion,Hamburg

Attendance: 52,365

Referee:Felix Brych

The final took place on 25 May 2019 at theOlympiastadion inBerlin.^[1]

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

The following were the top scorers of the DFB-Pokal, sorted first by number of goals, and then alphabetically if necessary.^[19] Goals scored in penalty shoot-outs are not included.

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	7
2	Pierre-Michel Lasogga	Hamburger SV	6
3	Robert Glatzel	1. FC Heidenheim	4
	Dodi Lukebakio	Fortuna Düsseldorf
	Simon Terodde	1. FC Köln
6	Nikola Dovedan	1. FC Heidenheim	3
	Marvin Ducksch	Fortuna Düsseldorf
	Serge Gnabry	Bayern Munich
	Martin Harnik	Werder Bremen
	Thorgan Hazard	Borussia Mönchengladbach
	Uwe Hünemeier	SC Paderborn
	Joelinton	1899 Hoffenheim
	Thomas Müller	Bayern Munich
	Alassane Pléa	Borussia Mönchengladbach
	Raffael	Borussia Mönchengladbach
	Milot Rashica	Werder Bremen
	Marco Reus	Borussia Dortmund
	Timo Werner	RB Leipzig

In Germany, all matches and a simulcast (Konferenz) channel were broadcast live on pay TV viaSky Sport. Selected matches from the first round to the quarter-finals, along with highlights from all matches, were broadcast on free TV byDas Erste'sSportschau live fromARD. Both semi-final matches and the final were broadcast by both Das Erste and Sky Sport.^[20]

The following matches were broadcast live on ARD:

• Official website(in German)
• DFB-Pokal on kicker.de(in German)

• DFB-Pokal seasons
• 2018–19 in German football cups

• CS1 German-language sources (de)
• Use dmy dates from December 2017
• Articles with short description
• Short description with empty Wikidata description
• Articles with German-language sources (de)