Arminia Bielefeld are the latest in a long line of DFB Cup giant-killers. - © Christof Koepsel

bundesliga

5 big DFB Cup upsets: Arminia Bielefeld join long list of giant-killers

02.04.2025

Arminia Bielefeld are the talk of German and European football after their shock DFB Cup defeat of reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen to reach the 2024/25 final. But the third-tier club are far from the first to bring down one of the Bundesliga big boys in Germany's cup competition.

1) 1974/75, 2nd Round: VfB Eppingen 2-1 Hamburg

"At first, I didn't want to believe it," said former Hamburg president Peter Krohn, who was not among the 15,000 spectators at the Hugo-Koch-Stadion who witnessed what esteemed German football magazine kicker described as "The Mother of All Shocks".

Krohn's state of disbelief was understandable. A star-stacked Hamburg line-up arrived for the tie top of the Bundesliga, and had just hammered Romanian side Steagul Roșu Brașov 8–0 to progress in the UEFA Cup.

Watch: Leverkusen complete the domestic double with the 2023/24 DFB Cup

But they came unstuck spectacularly and unexpectedly as home goalkeeper Volker Gerhardt played a blinder and ex-1860 Munich forward Gerd Störzer scored twice on "the best day of my football career" to dump HSV out. "Clearly, we underestimated our opponents," said Krohn, finally acknowledging reality.

2) 1990/91, 1st round: FV Weinheim 1-0 Bayern Munich

No club has won the cup more than Bayern's 20 titles, but the record Bundesliga champions have not always been able to avoid unwelcome surprises either.

Only one of their cup trophies came in the 1990s, which was a decade marked more by shocks than celebration. Arguably the biggest surprise was when they were knocked out in the first round for the first time in the club's history.

Jupp Heynckes was on the wrong side of a Cupset during his first spell as Bayern coach. - Michael Kunkel

This was certainly a massive surprise given the context. Bayern had won the last two Bundesliga titles, and had dismissed Kaiserslautern 4-1 in the Supercup just four days earlier. They had added Stefan Effenberg and Brian Laudrup to strengthen their squad, and featured no fewer than five of Germany's 1990 FIFA World Cup winners in their starting line-up against their third-tier hosts.

The result was a foregone conclusion, wasn't it? Not for Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, who had analysed video footage of Weinheim. But in the face of ultra-motivated opponents on a scorching day, Bayern wilted, and Thomas Schwechheimer tucked away the penalty that decided the tie. "For me, a penalty against international goalkeeper Raimond Aumann was no different to a penalty in a third division game," he coolly told German TV. "I was absolutely certain I would score."

Brian Laudrup (r.) was part of the Bayern side stunned in the DFB Cup. - Bongarts

Bayern left with their tails between their legs, but not entirely empty-handed. Weinheim president Wolfgang Daflinger presented Bayern's managing director Karl Hopfner with a cheque for 60,000 DM ($33,000), which was the Bavarians' share of the ticket revenue, while Heynckes received an illustrated book entitled 'Weinheim Then and Now.' "So their players can learn about our city," explained Daflinger. "Because some of them didn't know where Weinheim was before the match."

3) 1991/92, Final: Hannover 0-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach (4-3 pens.)

Only once since it was launched in 1952 has a side from outside the top division of German football won the DFB Cup. Take a bow Hannover.

Kickers Offenbach reached the 1969/70 final as a second division side, but due to the 1970 World Cup, the game was not played until the start of the following season. Having been promoted to the top flight by then, it meant they lifted the trophy as a Bundesliga team.

Hannover captain Karsten Surmann shows off the DFB Cup after his club's historic shock win. - Bongarts

Hannover were a Bundesliga 2 side though, and they did it the hard way too, knocking out four Bundesliga sides - Bochum, then league leaders Borussia Dortmund, Karlsruhe and holders Werder Bremen - before accounting for a fifth in the final.

The semi-final win over northern neighbours Bremen was particularly dramatic. "After I'd scored my penalty, it was quite easy for me," said goalkeeper Jörg Sievers, who then saved Marco Bode's spot-kick to take Hannover through. "I only had to stop it, and Marco didn't shoot very precisely either."

Sievers repeated the feat in the final, denying Karlheinz Pflipsen and Holger Fach from the spot before Michael Schjönberg ended the shoot-out by tucking his penalty into the bottom corner.

Hannover celebrate their historic DFB Cup final win on the Olympiastadion pitch in Berlin. - Bongarts

"We'd all dreamed about it, but whether we believed it is another matter," said Sievers, who - along with his teammates - was celebrated by a 50,000-strong crowd on their return to Hanover. "But we were more than happy to have been able to experience it."

Hannover were themselves shocked the following season by Hertha Berlin's reserve team, who went on to become the first third-tier outfit to reach the final.

4) The 2000/01 DFB Cup campaign

There was not just one shock in what was an incredible season in the competition's history.

Magdeburg were the first to make headlines. The former European Cup Winners' Cup winners would go on to take the fourth-tier league title but not before they became the first from that division to knock out two Bundesliga sides - Cologne and Bayern - in the same DFB Cup season.

Union Berlin joined a select club when they made the 2000/01 DFB Cup final. - Sandra Behne

Then in the third division, Union Berlin reached the final, also knocking out two Bundesliga sides en route before losing to then top-flight Schalke. Energie Cottbus (1996/97) and now Bielefeld - along with Hertha's trailblazing reserve team - are the four third-tier clubs to have reached the showpiece event.

The final curiosity of a crazy cup campaign came from VfB Stuttgart's reserve team, who set a competition record for a victory over a top-flight team with a 6-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt. In another bizarre twist, they were then knocked out by their own club's first team in the second round.

5) 2023/24, 2nd round: Saarbrücken 2-1 Bayern Munich

Even if Saarbrücken had become the first fourth division side to reach the semi-finals in 2019/20, no one - and we mean NO ONE - saw this coming.

Bayern had wrapped up an 11th successive Bundesliga title the previous season, and were unbeaten nine games into the new league campaign. They had hammered Darmstadt 8-0 in the Bundesliga just four days earlier, and even though coach Thomas Tuchel started headline summer signing Harry Kane on the bench, this was a game Bayern were heavily tipped to win against third-tier opponents.

Watch: Saarbrücken's 2023/24 DFB Cup goals

"We weren't arrogant or took it lightly," insisted Tuchel after seeing his big-name side humbled. "Everyone who says we have to win here is right. There's no clever explanation, we are extremely disappointed. We really wanted to reach [the final in] Berlin. It is what it is, we have to congratulate our opponents."

Thomas Müller had even given the visitors the lead, but Saarbrücken levelled in first-half added time before left-back Marcel Gaus was the unlikely matchwinner six minutes into added time at the end of the game.

Saarbrücken's players celebrate after stunning Bayern in the DFB Cup. - JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN

"To be eliminated for the third time in the second round of the cup is not what we strive for," said Müller, who had berated his teammates in the dressing room for failing to acknowledge the travelling fans after the final whistle.

"We have to congratulate Saarbrucken for their fight. A bit of luck is also part of it. Then we are hit on the break in the 96th minute, but we had wasted too many chances before that."