2021–22 DFB-Pokal

The 2021–22 DFB-Pokal was the 79th season of the annual German football cup competition.

[1] The DFB-Pokal is considered the second-most important club title in German football after the Bundesliga championship.

Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund were the defending champions, having defeated RB Leipzig 4–1 in the previous final to clinch their fifth title,[2] but lost to FC St. Pauli in the round of 16.

As winners, Leipzig hosted the 2022 edition of the DFL-Supercup at the start of the next season, and faced the champion of the 2021–22 Bundesliga, Bayern Munich.

The following teams qualified for the competition: Baden Bavaria[note 3] Berlin Brandenburg Bremen Hamburg Hesse Lower Rhine Lower Saxony[note 5] Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Middle Rhine Rhineland Saarland Saxony Saxony-Anhalt Schleswig-Holstein South Baden Southwest Thuringia Westphalia[note 11] Württemberg The DFB-Pokal began with a round of 64 teams.

Of the remaining slots, 21 were given to the cup winners of the regional football associations, the Verbandspokal.

The three remaining slots were given to the three regional associations with the most men's teams, which were Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and Westphalia.

[21] From the round of 16 onward, a video assistant referee was appointed for all DFB-Pokal matches.

[22] 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.

[19] The winners of the DFB-Pokal earned automatic qualification for the group stage of next year's edition of the UEFA Europa League.

If they had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League through position in the Bundesliga, then the spot would go to the team in sixth place, and the league's second qualifying round spot would go to the team in seventh place.

All draws were held at the German Football Museum in Dortmund, on a Sunday evening at 18:00 after each round (unless noted otherwise).

[23] The matches were drawn by Peter Zimmermann, the chairman of SG Ahrtal, one of the football clubs affected by the 2021 floods in Germany.