2023–24 DFB-Pokal

The 2023–24 DFB-Pokal was the 81st 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.

The two-time defending champions were Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, after they had defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0 in the previous final,[2] but they were eliminated in the second round by VfL Wolfsburg.

Leverkusen also qualified for the 2024 edition of the DFL-Supercup at the start of the next season, where they faced the runners-up of the 2023–24 Bundesliga, VfB Stuttgart.

The following teams qualified for the competition: Baden Bavaria[note 3] Berlin Brandenburg Bremen Hamburg Hesse Lower Rhine Lower Saxony[note 4] Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Middle Rhine Rhineland Saarland Saxony Saxony-Anhalt Schleswig-Holstein South Baden Southwest Thuringia Westphalia[note 7] 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.

The best-placed amateur team of the Regionalliga Bayern was given the spot for Bavaria.

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

[10] If a player received five yellow cards in the competition, he was 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.

All draws were generally held on a Sunday evening after each round (unless noted otherwise).

The remaining two matches, involving the participants of the 2023 DFL-Supercup (played on 12 August), took place from 26 to 27 September 2023.

[1] The following were the top scorers of the DFB-Pokal, sorted first by number of goals, and then alphabetically if necessary.