DFB-Pokal 2021–22 was the 79th season of the annual German football cup competition. Sixty-four teams participated in the competition, including all teams from the previous year’s Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga. The competition began on 6 August 2021 with the first of six rounds and ended on 21 May 2022 with the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, a nominally neutral venue, which has hosted the final since 1985. The DFB-Pokal is considered the second-most important club title in German football after the Bundesliga championship. The DFB-Pokal is run by the German Football Association (DFB).
Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund were the defending champions, having defeated RB Leipzig 4–1 in the previous final to clinch their fifth title, but lost to FC St. Pauli in the round of 16. Leipzig won this year’s edition with a win over SC Freiburg.
As Leipzig already qualified for the 2022–23 edition of the UEFA Champions League through their position in the Bundesliga, the UEFA Europa League group stage spot reserved for the cup winners went to the sixth-placed team, and the league’s UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round spot to the seventh-placed team. 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.
Champions: 
RB Leipzig (1st title)
Runner-up: 
SC Freiburg
Top Goal Scorer: 
Robert Glatzel (
Hamburger SV), 5 goal
DFB-Pokal 2021-22 Round of 16 matches
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 31 October 2021 at 18:30. The matches were drawn by Peter Zimmermann, the chairman of SG Ahrtal, one of the football clubs affected by the 2021 floods in Germany.
Date Team 1 Result Team 2
18 January 2022 
1860 Munich0–1 
Karlsruher SC
18 January 2022 
1. FC Köln1–1 (a.e.t.)
3–4 (penalties) Hamburger SV
18 January 2022 
FC St. Pauli2–1 
Borussia Dortmund
18 January 2022 
VfL Bochum3–1 
Mainz 05
19 January 2022 
Hannover 963–0 
Borussia Mönchengladbach
19 January 2022 RB Leipzig2–0 
Hansa Rostock
19 January 2022 
1899 Hoffenheim1–4 SC Freiburg
19 January 2022 
Hertha BSC2–3 
Union Berlin
DFB-Pokal 2021-22 Quarter Final matches
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 30 January 2022 at 19:15. Felix Neureuther was scheduled to draw the matches, but had to cancel; the draw was then performed by Norbert Dickel.
Date Team 1 Result Team 2
1 March 2022 Union Berlin2–1 FC St. Pauli
2 March 2022 Hamburger SV2–2 (a.e.t.)
3–2 (penalties) Karlsruher SC
2 March 2022 Hannover 960–4 RB Leipzig
2 March 2022 VfL Bochum1–2 (a.e.t.) SC Freiburg
DFB-Pokal 2021-22 Semi final matches
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 6 March 2022, with Laura Nolte drawing the matches.
Date Team 1 Result Team 2
19 April 2022 Hamburger SV1–3 SC Freiburg
20 April 2022 RB Leipzig2–1 Union Berlin
DFB-Pokal 2021-22 Final match
21 May 2022 20:00 CEST, Olympiastadion, Berlin
| SC Freiburg |
1 – 1 (a.e.t.) | RB Leipzig |
Eggestein  19′ |
Nkunku 76′ |
|
Petersen  Günter  K. Schlotterbeck Demirović |
2 – 4 (Penalties) |
Nkunku Orbán Olmo Henrichs |
DFB-Pokal 2021-22 Top Goal scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Robert Glatzel Hamburger SV5
2 Maximilian Beier Hannover 964
3 
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
Bayern Munich4
4 
Erling Haaland Borussia Dortmund4
5 
Miloš Pantović VfL Bochum4
6 
Vincenzo Grifo SC Freiburg4
7 Jonathan Burkardt Mainz 053
8 
Anthony Modeste 1. FC Köln3
9 Christopher Nkunku RB Leipzig3
DFB-Pokal 2021-22 Participation
The DFB-Pokal began with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, along with the top four finishers of the 3. Liga, were automatically qualified for the tournament. 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. For Lower Saxony, the Lower Saxony Cup was split into two paths: one for 3. Liga and Regionalliga Nord teams, and the other for amateur teams. The winners of each path qualified. For Westphalia, the best-placed team of the Regionalliga West 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.
DFB-Pokal 2021-22 Draw
The draws for the different rounds were conducted as follows:
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.
Champion Qualification
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. The winners also hosted the DFL-Supercup at the start of the next season, and faced the champions of the previous year’s Bundesliga, unless the same team won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, completing a double. In that case, the runners-up of the Bundesliga would take the spot and host instead.
