2025–26 3. Liga

3. Liga
Season2025–26
Dates1 August 2025 – 16 May 2026
Matches300
Goals940 (3.13 per match)
Top goalscorerLars Gindorf
(20 goals)
Biggest home winCottbus 5–0 Stuttgart
Mannheim 6–1 Essen
Verl 5–0 Ulm
Wiesbaden 6–1 Duisburg
Biggest away winUlm 0–5 Rostock
Havelse 0–5 Munich
Highest scoringHavelse 2–6 Ingolstadt
Ulm 3–5 Osnabrück
Longest winning run6 games
Duisburg
Longest unbeaten run10 games
Duisburg
Longest winless run14 games
Havelse
Longest losing run4 games
Schweinfurt
Highest attendance28,119 Duisburg vs Aachen
Lowest attendance300 Stuttgart v Wiesbaden
Stuttgart v Havelse
Attendance3,049,736 (10,166 per match)
2026–27
All statistics correct as of 22 March 2026.

The 2025–26 3. Liga is the 18th season of the 3. Liga. It started on 1 August 2025 and will conclude on 16 May 2026.[1]

The fixtures were announced on 3 July 2025.[2]

Teams

Team changes

Promoted from 2024–25 Regionalliga Relegated from 2024–25 2. Bundesliga Promoted to 2025–26 2. Bundesliga Relegated from 2024–25 3. Liga
MSV Duisburg
TSV Havelse
TSG Hoffenheim II
1. FC Schweinfurt
SSV Ulm
Jahn Regensburg
Arminia Bielefeld
Dynamo Dresden
Borussia Dortmund II
Hannover 96 II
SV Sandhausen
SpVgg Unterhaching

Stadiums and locations

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Alemannia Aachen Aachen Tivoli 32,960
Erzgebirge Aue Aue-Bad Schlema eins Erzgebirgsstadion 16,485
Energie Cottbus Cottbus LEAG Energie Stadion 22,528
MSV Duisburg Duisburg Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena 31,514
Rot-Weiss Essen Essen Stadion an der Hafenstraße 19,962
TSV Havelse Hanover Eilenriedestadion
Heinz von Heiden Arena1
5,001
49,000
TSG Hoffenheim II Sinsheim Dietmar-Hopp-Stadion 6,350
FC Ingolstadt Ingolstadt Audi Sportpark 15,200
Viktoria Köln Cologne Sportpark Höhenberg 8,343
Waldhof Mannheim Mannheim Carl-Benz-Stadion 24,302
1860 Munich Munich Grünwalder Stadion 15,000
VfL Osnabrück Osnabrück Stadion an der Bremer Brücke 15,741
Jahn Regensburg Regensburg Jahnstadion Regensburg 15,210
Hansa Rostock Rostock Ostseestadion 29,000
1. FC Saarbrücken Saarbrücken Ludwigsparkstadion 16,003
1. FC Schweinfurt Schweinfurt Riedel Bau Arena 12,000
VfB Stuttgart II Aspach WIRmachenDRUCK Arena2 10,001
SSV Ulm Ulm Donaustadion 17,400
SC Verl Verl Sportclub Arena 5,207
Wehen Wiesbaden Wiesbaden BRITA-Arena 15,295

1 TSV Havelse will play their home matches at the Eilenriedestadion since their home stadium, the Wilhelm-Langrehr-Stadion in Garbsen, did not meet 3. Liga standards. They will move to the Heinz von Heiden Arena for high-risk matches.[3]
2 VfB Stuttgart II will play their home matches at the WIRmachenDRUCK Arena since their home stadium, the Robert-Schlienz-Stadion in Stuttgart, did not meet 3. Liga standards.[4]

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Front Sleeve Back
Alemannia Aachen Mersad Selimbegović Mika Hanraths Capelli Sport None Rotcom Gebr. Kutsch
Erzgebirge Aue Christoph Dabrowski Martin Männel Nike Medical Beauty Research Erzgebirgssparkasse G&K Innenausbau
Energie Cottbus Claus-Dieter Wollitz Axel Borgmann Macron LEAG Sparkasse Spree-Neiße Koalick
MSV Duisburg Dietmar Hirsch Alexander Hahn Adidas trinkgut ZOXS Solarwelt
Rot-Weiss Essen Uwe Koschinat Michael Schultz Jako ifm Electronic Sparkasse Essen, Essener Chancen NEObetNEO.bet
TSV Havelse Samir Ferchichi Julius Düker Nike enercity None None
TSG Hoffenheim II Stefan Kleineheismann Valentin Lässig Joma SAP hep global None
FC Ingolstadt Sabrina Wittmann Lukas Fröde Erreà SI Electronics Audi Schanzer Fußballschule PROSIS GmbH
Viktoria Köln Marian Wilhelm Christoph Greger Capelli Sport Peynooş Wintec Autoglas ETL
Waldhof Mannheim Luc Holtz Lukas Klünter Uhlsport Galeria None PLAZA Hotelgroup
1860 Munich Markus Kauczinski Jesper Verlaat Joma Die Bayerische Bet3000 Pangea Life
VfL Osnabrück Timo Schultz Jannik Müller Capelli Sport SO-TECH JOPA None
Jahn Regensburg Munier Raychouni Christian Kühlwetter Hummel Netto None None
Hansa Rostock Daniel Brinkmann Franz Pfanne Mizuno 28 Black H2Apex None
1. FC Saarbrücken Argirios Giannikis Sven Sonnenberg Adidas Victor's Group LOTTO Saartoto Victor's Group
1. FC Schweinfurt Jermaine Jones Thomas Meißner Capelli Sport Wolf Möbel HYLO Helden-Projects
VfB Stuttgart II Nico Willig Dominik Nothnagel Jako Landesbank Baden-Württemberg Porsche None
SSV Ulm Pavel Dochev Johannes Reichert Uhlsport Liqui Moly B-ITE E-Recruiting None
SC Verl Tobias Strobl Niko Kijewski Joma Beckhoff EGE GmbH None
Wehen Wiesbaden Daniel Scherning Fatih Kaya Capelli Sport Brita quickpaid None

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing Manner Exit date Position in table Incoming Incoming date Ref.
Announced on Departed on Announced on Arrived on
SC Verl Alexander Ende End of contract 2 April 2025 30 June 2025 Pre-season Tobias Strobl 20 May 2025 1 July 2025 [5][6]
Viktoria Köln Olaf Janßen Signed by SV Sandhausen 7 May 2025 Marian Wilhelm 29 May 2025 [7][8]
Jahn Regensburg Munier Raychouni End of caretaker 8 May 2025 Michael Wimmer 23 May 2025 [9][10]
VfL Osnabrück Marco Antwerpen End of caretaker 30 May 2025 Timo Schultz 17 June 2025 [11][12]
TSG Hoffenheim II Vincent Wagner Signed by SV Elversberg 5 June 2025 Stefan Kleineheismann 9 June 2025 [13][14]
VfB Stuttgart II Markus Fiedler Signed by 1. FC Magdeburg 15 June 2025 Nico Willig 15 June 2025 [15]
Alemannia Aachen Heiner Backhaus Signed by Eintracht Braunschweig 17 June 2025 Benedetto Muzzicato 25 June 2025 [16][17]
Waldhof Mannheim Dominik Glawogger Sacked 11 August 2025 14th Luc Holtz 12 August 2025 [18][19]
SSV Ulm Robert Lechleiter 18 September 2025 15th Moritz Glasbrenner 18 September 2025 [20][21]
1860 Munich Patrick Glöckner 28 September 2025 10th Alper Kayabunar 28 September 2025 [22][23]
Alper Kayabunar End of tenure as caretaker 9 October 2025 13th Markus Kauczinski 9 October 2025 [24]
Alemannia Aachen Benedetto Muzzicato Sacked 20 October 2025 18th Ilyas Trenz (caretaker) 20 October 2025 [25]
Wehen Wiesbaden Nils Döring 25 October 2025 11th Frank Steinmetz (caretaker) 25 October 2025 [26]
Alemannia Aachen Ilyas Trenz End of caretaker tenure 6 November 2025 Mersad Selimbegović 6 November 2025 [27]
Wehen Wiesbaden Frank Steinmetz 10 November 2025 13th Daniel Scherning 10 November 2025 [28]
SSV Ulm Moritz Glasbrenner Sacked 10 November 2025 18th Pavel Dochev 16 November 2025 [29][30]
1. FC Saarbrücken Alois Schwartz Mutual consent 25 November 2025 13th Jürgen Luginger 25 November 2025 [31]
Erzgebirge Aue Jens Härtel Sacked 31 January 2026 17th Christoph Dabrowski 3 February 2026 [32][33]
1. FC Saarbrücken Jürgen Luginger 11 February 2026 16th Argirios Giannikis 11 February 2026 [34]
1. FC Schweinfurt Victor Kleinhenz 18 February 2026 20th Jermaine Jones 18 February 2026 [35][36]
Jahn Regensburg Michael Wimmer Mutual consent 9 March 2026 14th Munier Raychouni (interim) 9 March 2026 [37]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 VfL Osnabrück 30 18 7 5 50 26 +24 61 Promotion to 2. Bundesliga and qualification for DFB-Pokal
2 Rot-Weiss Essen 30 15 10 5 61 49 +12 55
3 SC Verl 30 15 9 6 70 41 +29 54 Qualification for promotion play-offs and DFB-Pokal
4 MSV Duisburg 30 15 9 6 54 41 +13 54 Qualification for DFB-Pokal
5 Energie Cottbus 30 15 9 6 55 44 +11 54
6 Hansa Rostock 30 14 11 5 53 32 +21 53
7 1860 Munich 30 14 7 9 46 39 +7 49
8 Wehen Wiesbaden 30 14 6 10 42 33 +9 48
9 Waldhof Mannheim 30 14 3 13 49 54 −5 45
10 Alemannia Aachen 30 13 5 12 53 51 +2 44
11 FC Ingolstadt 30 10 10 10 50 41 +9 40
12 Jahn Regensburg 30 11 6 13 42 45 −3 39
13 Viktoria Köln 30 11 5 14 41 41 0 38
14 VfB Stuttgart II[a] 30 11 5 14 36 49 −13 38
15 TSG Hoffenheim II[a] 30 10 5 15 53 54 −1 35
16 1. FC Saarbrücken 30 7 12 11 40 46 −6 33
17 SSV Ulm 30 7 4 19 39 62 −23 25 Relegation to Regionalliga
18 Erzgebirge Aue 30 5 9 16 34 54 −20 24
19 TSV Havelse 30 5 8 17 43 69 −26 23
20 1. FC Schweinfurt 30 5 2 23 29 69 −40 17
Updated to match(es) played on 22 March 2026. Source: DFB
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored; 6) Away goals scored; 7) Play-off.[38]
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Reserve teams are ineligible for promotion or DFB-Pokal qualification.

Results

Home \ Away AAC AUE COT DUI ESS HAV HOF ING KÖL MAN MUN OSN REG ROS SAA SCH STU ULM VER WIE
Alemannia Aachen 0–1 4–1 3–3 2–4 0–1 0–3 3–2 0–2 0–3 0–2 2–0 1–0 1–3 3–1
Erzgebirge Aue 1–3 1–2 2–2 2–1 2–2 0–3 0–2 2–0 1–3 4–3 0–0 0–0 4–0 0–0 0–3
Energie Cottbus 3–2 2–1 3–2 4–3 3–1 1–1 3–2 1–1 0–1 2–2 0–0 3–3 2–1 5–0 1–1 0–0
MSV Duisburg 3–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 2–2 4–2 3–1 2–1 2–1 4–2 3–1
Rot-Weiss Essen 2–3 4–2 2–3 4–1 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 3–2 3–0 2–1 1–1 3–2 1–1
TSV Havelse 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 4–0 2–6 3–2 2–3 0–5 0–2 1–2 1–3 2–1 2–2 0–2
TSG Hoffenheim II 2–3 1–1 4–1 4–1 2–4 0–0 1–3 2–0 1–2 0–1 1–0 2–2 1–3 1–1 2–4 3–1
FC Ingolstadt 1–2 0–0 0–0 1–2 3–2 3–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–3 2–1 4–1 1–2 0–0
Viktoria Köln 2–2 0–0 1–2 4–1 2–1 3–1 1–3 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–4 2–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–5
Waldhof Mannheim 2–1 2–1 0–3 6–1 3–1 2–2 2–0 3–1 1–4 0–4 2–1 0–1 2–1 2–2 1–0
1860 Munich 2–2 2–1 3–0 3–1 1–1 3–2 1–5 2–2 3–1 1–0 2–0 3–1 1–1 0–2 0–0
VfL Osnabrück 0–0 3–1 0–0 3–0 2–0 0–4 1–0 2–0 4–1 1–1 2–0 0–0 2–0 1–2 0–1
Jahn Regensburg 0–4 1–3 5–2 0–3 0–0 3–0 4–0 0–2 0–3 1–1 3–0 3–2 1–1 2–0 2–1
Hansa Rostock 2–2 2–1 1–3 5–1 3–2 1–1 0–1 0–3 1–0 2–1 2–2 2–1 2–0 2–2 3–0
1. FC Saarbrücken 4–1 1–1 0–0 2–3 1–1 2–2 2–1 0–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 3–1 2–4 2–0
1. FC Schweinfurt 1–5 0–2 0–3 2–3 2–1 1–1 2–0 2–3 1–2 0–1 2–2 3–1 3–2 1–2 0–1
VfB Stuttgart II 1–3 1–2 0–4 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 3–1 2–1 0–1 1–3 3–0 1–1 0–0
SSV Ulm 1–3 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–3 1–3 1–2 0–1 3–5 2–1 0–5 1–1 5–1 1–3 0–1
SC Verl 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–3 0–0 3–1 2–2 5–2 4–1 1–2 3–0 4–0 4–0 5–0 2–2
Wehen Wiesbaden 1–2 3–1 3–1 6–1 3–4 2–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 3–1 2–1
Updated to match(es) played on 22 March 2026. Source: DFB
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics

Top scorers

As of 22 March 2026[39]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Lars Gindorf Alemannia Aachen 20
2 Erik Engelhardt Energie Cottbus 16
3 Lex-Tyger Lobinger Viktoria Köln/MSV Duisburg 14
Felix Lohkemper Waldhof Mannheim
Berkan Taz SC Verl
6 Tolcay Ciğerci Energie Cottbus 13
Marcel Costly FC Ingolstadt
Marek Janssen Rot-Weiss Essen
Mika Schroers Alemannia Aachen
10 Alessio Besio SC Verl 12
Robin Meißner VfL Osnabrück
Florian Pick 1. FC Saarbrücken
Deniz Zeitler TSG Hoffenheim II

Hat-tricks

Player Club Against Result Date
Lars Gindorf Alemannia Aachen Rot-Weiss Essen 3–2 (A) 31 August 2025
Mika Schroers Alemannia Aachen Schweinfurt 05 5–1 (A) 27 September 2025
Nicklas Shipnoski Waldhof Mannheim Rot-Weiss Essen 6–1 (H)
Marek Janssen Rot-Weiss Essen TSV Havelse 4–1 (H) 24 January 2026
Fatih Kaya4 Wehen Wiesbaden MSV Duisburg 6–1 (H) 14 February 2026
Felix Lohkemper Waldhof Mannheim TSV Havelse 3–1 (H) 8 March 2026
Emil Holten Hansa Rostock MSV Duisburg 5–1 (H) 14 March 2026
  • 4 Players scored four goals.

Clean sheets

As of 22 March 2026[40]
Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1 Lukas Jonsson VfL Osnabrück 16
2 Benjamin Uphoff Hansa Rostock 11
3 Maximilian Braune MSV Duisburg 9
4 Thomas Dähne 1860 Munich 8
5 Felix Gebhardt Jahn Regensburg 7
Philipp Schulze SC Verl
7 Arne Schulz Viktoria Köln 6
8 Kai Eisele FC Ingolstadt 5
Marius Funk Energie Cottbus
Martin Männel Erzgebirge Aue
Florian Stritzel Wehen Wiesbaden

References

  1. ^ "DFB veröffentlicht Rahmenterminkalender für die Saison 2025/26". kicker.de (in German). kicker. 8 November 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Spielplan 2025/2026 veröffentlicht: RWE und 1860 eröffnen Saison". dfb.de (in German). 3 July 2025. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  3. ^ "Bei Aufstieg in die 3. Liga: Havelse würde erneut nach Hannover ausweichen". Kicker (in German). 21 May 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  4. ^ "Heimspielstätten stehen fest" (in German). VfB Stuttgart. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Ende verlässt den Sportclub im Sommer!" (in German). SC Verl. 2 April 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  6. ^ "Tobias Strobl wird neuer Sportclub-Trainer!" (in German). SC Verl. 20 May 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
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