Dominant Bayern performance to win third DFB-Pokal Frauen title | OneFootball

For VfL Wolfsburg, this was an opportunity to continue a dynasty of Pokal titles, having won eleven of the last thirteen titles (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024). This was also the last chance for a few players to win a title at the club, most notably German football legend Alexandra Popp, who leaves for third-tier Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season - a club that she has expressed her interest in playing for and bringing them back to the Frauen-Bundesliga.

For FC Bayern München, the reigning champions, this was a chance to win their third title (2012, 2025) and complete a second consecutive double by winning the Frauen-Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal Frauen in the same year.

Lena Lattwein passed back, getting the match underway at RheinEnergieStadion in Köln. The first chance would come in the eighth minute of the match, as Georgia Stanway would attempt a through ball to Momoko Tanikawa on the left side of the Wolfsburg penalty area; Camilla Küver got in front of the Japanese midfielder and tapped it to the left of the goal for a corner to Bayern. Stanway would deliver the cross into the area on the ensuing corner, headed goalwards by Pernille Harder; it went to the left of Stina Johannes but Popp was there to block it with her right leg and then hoof it away to the left for a throw-in to the reigning champions.

In the fourteenth minute, a short throw from Sophia Kleinherne nearly reached Sarai Linder, but Giulia Gwinn knocked it away for a corner. Svenja Huth’s ensuing near-post set piece was headed by Janina Minge, appearing to also deflect off Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir before going to the right of the goal. Wolfsburg protested for a corner, but head official Franziska Wildheuer did not see enough contact from her point of view and thus awarded a goal kick to Bayern.

In the sixteenth minute, Wolfsburg would break out into a 3v3, with Lineth Beerensteyn controlling possession in the middle - Vivien Endemann and Svenja Huth to her left and right. Beerensteyn played the ball short to Huth, who in turn attempt to cross the ball to Endemann in the centre of the box; Magdalena Eriksson stepped in front of the Dutch international and knocked the ball away from danger.

From the left side of the Bayern third, close to the box, Sarai Linder would launch the first shot on target in the seventeenth minute; however, it was not a tough test for Ena Mahmutovic, who did not need to jump too high to grab onto the ball with both hands before colliding with Lattwein.

Three minutes later, it was Bayern that got a very close chance to jump in front. Klara Bühl ran into the left side of the Wolfsburg third and delivered a far-post cross into the centre of the goal area. Küver was the only member of the Wölfinnen in that space, trying to defend against both Tanikawa and Pernille Harder who darted into the box. Harder would get enough of the ball to power it past an unmoving Johannes, but just metres wide of the bottom-right corner.

24 minutes in, Janina Minge would send a through ball into the right side of the Bayern half, close to the penalty area. Seeing as Beerensteyn would have had a one-on-one opportunity, with Eriksson tracking but slightly behind, Mahmutovic came well out of her net to close down the angle; Beerensteyn attempted a sliding tackle to poke the ball away from the Duisburg-born goalkeeper, but Mahmutovic got more of the ball with her right boot and sent it away for a throw to the Wölfinnen.

At the half-hour mark, Giulia Gwinn, on the left side of the box, sent a short pass to Tanikawa on the left side of the Wolfsburg penalty area. Tanikawa spotted Bernadette Amani in open space at the edge of the box and tapped a ground pass to the Ivorian international midfielder, whose ensuing low attempt was easily denied by Johannes.

Lattwein would attempt a through ball to Beerensteyn on the left side of the box, but a sweeping tackle from Viggósdóttir sent it away for a corner to Wolfsburg. Huth’s following near-post cross was tapped to the left by Mahmutovic, which allowed Bayern to regroup; just seconds later, an Eriksson sliding tackle at the edge of the box sent the ball to Lattwein, who powered an attempt towards the top-left corner but ultimately went straight into the hands of the Bayern goalkeeper.

Two minutes later, Beerensteyn would get on the end of a long ball from Huth, darting into the left side of the box with Gwinn slightly tracking behind. Gwinn brought the Dutch forward to the ground, colliding with Beerensteyn before the latter could tap a sliding attempt towards the goal; Wolfsburg protested for a penalty, but it was ultimately determined by Wildfeuer and video official Katrin Rafalski that Beerensteyn was slightly offside at the moment of the initial pass, thus nullifying the play.

Bayern would ultimately end up getting a penalty in their favour right before the end of the half. From the edge of the box, Tanikawa would send a short pass to Gwinn, who in turn sent the ball back to the Japanese midfielder. Beerensteyn, from behind, clipped the back of Tanikawa’s legs with a sliding tackle, narrowly unable to win possession back. Johannes guessed the correct way on the spot kick, but Stanway curled it just out of reach and into the bottom-left corner to put Bayern in front.

Wolfsburg tried to respond quickly, with a failed clearance from Gwinn landing right to Minge. From there, Minge sent a short pass into the left side of the box, hoping to find Beerensteyn, but Mahmutovic slid to the ground and made a quick sliding tackle to knock it away. Bayern would get the last chance of the half, as Franziska Kett crossed the ball into the centre of the box. Tanikawa got on the end of it and weaved her way around Peddemors, into the goal area; she would then tap the ball to her right to Harder, who powered the ball past Johannes but off the body of Linder on the goal line. Franziska Wildfeuer drew the first half to a close moments later; shots in the first 45 were 6-3 to Bayern, 4-1 on target with Die Roten holding 63% possession.

The second half started much the same way as the first half ended, with Bayern controlling possession and creating a series of chances. Gwinn would start it off within the first minute, sending a through ball into the centre of the box to Amani; the latter could not get enough of the ball to lift it above Johannes as she intended, and it weakly rolled to the Hanover-born goalkeeper who smothered it with both hands.

Five minutes in, Bühl received a pass from the back line courtesy of Eriksson; the 25-year-old German international then weaved her way around Huth before crossing the ball near-post. It bounced off the ground and landed in front of Harder, who could not make enough contact and tapped it to Johannes instead.

This was followed by an Amani long ball to Linda Dallmann in the fifty-third minute; the Dinslaken-born midfielder darted into the left side of the box before tapping the ball to Tanikawa close to the goal area; however, Linder slid in front in time to take the impact of the shot and kick it well away from danger.

Bayern would eventually double their lead in the fifty-ninth minute, as a Eriksson cross from well outside the box was headed by Harder on the right side of the Wolfsburg goal area. Johannes would go to the ground to meet the ball, but neither she nor Minge could clear it away as it bounced over the line and into the bottom-right corner.

After entering the match for Lattwein seconds after the Bayern goal, Vivien Endemann would find space on the left side of the Bayern penalty area - getting on the receiving end of a through pass from Huth at the edge of the box. Mahmutovic charged out of her net but Viggósdóttir stepped in front of the German international, cleanly winning possession back with a slide tackle.

64 minutes in, Eriksson would pass to her left to Bühl, on her way into the Wolfsburg penalty area. Küver nearly lost balance while trying to keep pace, but managed to tap the ball away from the Haßfurt-born winger for a corner that Gwinn would eventually cross far from Johannes and out of play.

The next ten minutes were mainly midfield play, with both sides unable to generate dangerous chances - but in the seventy-seventh minute, Bayern would manage to get their third of the afternoon. Klara Bühl’s pass on the left side of the box skipped past Linder, who attempted to clear - the ball landed right in front of Tanikawa, who made no mistake by tapping the ball into the bottom-right corner past Johannes, who was slightly in the net.

Wolfsburg nearly got on the board in the eighty-first minute, as Linder stripped Viggósdóttir of possession and set up substitute Cora Zicai, who entered the match just seconds earlier in place of Beerensteyn; Zicai then launched an attempt from the right edge of the Bayern penalty area, hoping to surprise Mahmutovic, but whistled it just wide of the top-right corner.Shortly after that chance, José Barcala attempted to shift the momentum by making his first two changes, one of which was the entry of Arianna Caruso for Harder at striker. Bayern would win a free kick from just outside the box after Zicai tripped up Stanway, and the Italian midfielder was called to take it. Caruso lifted the ball above the Wolfsburg wall, over a leaping Johannes and top-centre to put a bow tie on a dominant Bayern victory.

Franziska Wildfeuer blew the final whistle just seconds after the clock reached 90 minutes - thus confirming a third DFB-Pokal Frauen title for Bayern, going back-to-back with a second consecutive league-cup double. Bayern dominated Wolfsburg in the second term, outshooting the Wölfinnen 10-3, 7-0 on target with 63% possession.

VfL Wolfsburg will finish their 2025/26 Frauen-Bundesliga season against eleventh-place 1. FC Nürnberg at AOK-Stadion; as for FC Bayern München, they end their championship campaign at Volksparkstadion against Hamburger SV - who still have something to play for as they are twelfth and looking to avoid relegation. Kickoff for both matches is set for 14:00 (CET) on Sunday.