| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | West Germany |
| Teams | 128 |
| Defending champions | Fortuna Düsseldorf |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Eintracht Frankfurt |
| Runners-up | 1. FC Kaiserslautern |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 137 |
The1980–81DFB-Pokal was the 38th season of the annual Germanfootball cup competition. It began on 27 August 1980 and ended on 2 May 1981. In the final,FC Kaiserslautern was defeated byEintracht Frankfurt (3–1) who were awarded the trophy for the third time.[1] Despite losing in the quarter-finals,Hamburger SV set an all-time record by scoring 36 goals in the competition.Fortuna Düsseldorf set an all-time record of 18 consecutive cup-match victories since 1978, despite losing in the quarter-finals.
| 17 September 1980 | |||
| SpVgg Bayreuth | 2 – 1 | Borussia Neunkirchen | |
| 24 September 1980 | |||
| Hammer SpVgg | 3 – 2 | Concordia Hamburg | |
| Karlsruher SC | 2 – 1 | 1. FC Viersen 05 | |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | 3 – 0 | SpVgg Fürth | |
| SG Union Solingen | 5 – 0 | TuS Celle |
| 28 October 1980 | |||
| SV Werder Bremen | 1 – 0 | Hannover 96 | |
| Freiburger FC | 3 – 1 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | |
| Alemannia Aachen | 1 – 0 | Karlsruher SC | |
| 5 November 1980 | |||
| SC Freiburg | 3 – 1 | 1. FC Köln |
| 20 December 1980 | |||
| SV Atlas Delmenhorst | 2 – 1 | Kickers Offenbach |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | 4 – 3 | Hamburger SV | (AET) |
| Hertha BSC Berlin | 2 – 1 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 3 – 1 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 2 – 1 | VfB Stuttgart |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 1 – 0 | Hertha BSC Berlin | |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 3 – 2 | Eintracht Braunschweig |