Participation

The DFB-Pokal began with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, along with the top 4 finishers of the 3. Liga 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 spot was rotated each season between the best-placed Westphalian team of the Regionalliga West and the best-placed amateur team of the Oberliga Westfalen. For the 2023–24 DFB-Pokal, this spot was awarded to a team from the Regionalliga. 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.^[6]

Draw

The draws for the different rounds are conducted as follows:^[6]

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 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 will be conducted from just one pot. Any remaining 3. Liga and/or amateur team(s) will be the home team if drawn against a professional team. In every other case, the first-drawn team will serve as hosts.

Match rules

Teams meet in one game per round. Matches take place for 90 minutes, with two halves of 45 minutes each. If still tied after regulation, 30 minutes of extra time will be played, consisting of two periods of 15 minutes each. If the score is still level after this, the match will be decided by a penalty shoot-out. A coin toss will decide who takes the first penalty.^[6][7] A maximum of nine players can be listed on the substitute bench, while a maximum of five substitutions are allowed. However, each team is only given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.^[8] From the round of 16 onward, a video assistant referee will be appointed for all DFB-Pokal matches. Though technically possible, VAR will not be used for home matches of Bundesliga clubs prior to the round of 16 in order to provide a uniform approach to all matches.^[9]

Suspensions

If a player receives five yellow cards in the competition, he will then be suspended from the next cup match. Similarly, receiving a second yellow card suspends a player from the next cup match. If a player receives a direct red card, they will be suspended a minimum of one match, but the German Football Association reserves the right to increase the suspension.^[6]

International qualification

The winners of the DFB-Pokal earns automatic qualification for the league stage of next year's edition of the UEFA Europa League. If they have already qualified for the UEFA Champions League through position in the Bundesliga, then the spot will go to the team in sixth place, and the league's UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round spot will go to the team in seventh place. The winners will also host the DFL-Supercup at the start of the next season, and will face the champions of the previous year's Bundesliga, unless the same team wins the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, completing a double. In that case, the runners-up of the Bundesliga will take the spot and host instead.

First round

The draw for the first round was held on 18 June 2023, with Sarah Vogel drawing the matches.^[10][12][13] Thirty of the thirty-two matches took place from 11 to 14 August 2023. 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]

1. FC Saarbrücken v Karlsruher SC

11 August 2023 (2023-08-11)	1. FC Saarbrücken	2–1	Karlsruher SC	Saarbrücken
18:00	Civeja 47' Brünker 90'	Report	Stindl 65'	Stadium: Ludwigsparkstadion Attendance: 14,284 Referee: Arne Aarnink

Eintracht Braunschweig v Schalke 04

11 August 2023 (2023-08-11)	Eintracht Braunschweig	1–3	Schalke 04	Braunschweig
20:45	Ujah 12'	Report	Karaman 19' Seguin 42' Latza 90+4'	Stadium: Eintracht-Stadion Attendance: 21,800 Referee: Patrick Ittrich

FC Oberneuland v 1. FC Nürnberg

12 August 2023 (2023-08-12)	FC Oberneuland	1–9	1. FC Nürnberg	Bremen
15:30	Lambers 89'	Report	Uzun 10', 14', 67' Hayashi 15' Gürleyen 19' Duman 25', 29' (pen.) Goller 71' Daferner 90'	Stadium: Marko Mock Arena Attendance: 2,187 Referee: Lukas Benen

Second round

The draw for the second round was held on 1 October 2023, with Shkodran Mustafi drawing the matches.^[10][20][21] The sixteen matches took place on 31 October and 1 November 2023.^[1]

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 5 November 2023, with Denise Schindler drewing the matches.^[10][22][23] The eight matches took place on 5 and 6 December 2023.^[1]

Borussia Mönchengladbach v VfL Wolfsburg

5 December 2023 (2023-12-05)	Borussia Mönchengladbach	1–0 (a.e.t.)	VfL Wolfsburg	Mönchengladbach
20:45	Koné 120'	Report		Stadium: Borussia-Park Attendance: 39,827 Referee: Bastian Dankert

FC 08 Homburg v FC St. Pauli

5 December 2023 (2023-12-05)	FC 08 Homburg	1–4	FC St. Pauli	Homburg
20:45	Mendler 28'	Report	Wahl 24' Saad 64' Hartel 69' Eggestein 73'	Stadium: Waldstadion Homburg Attendance: 12,232 Referee: Martin Petersen

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 10 December 2023, with Jens Nowotny drewing the matches.^[10][24][25] The four matches will take place from 30 to 31 January and 6 to 7 February 2024.^[1]

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals will be held on 11 February 2024.^[10] The two matches will take place on 2 and 3 April 2024.^[1]

Final

The final will take place on 25 May 2024 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.^[1]