Wolfsburg avoid upset in Pokal thriller against Altglienicke

In the capital of Berlin on a sunny Monday evening, fourth-tier VSG Altglienicke played host to second-tier VfL Wolfsburg in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB-Pokal.

This is only the second appearance in the DFB-Pokal tournament for Altglienicke; they qualified for the competition in 2020/21, facing 1. FC Köln and losing 0-6. As for VfL Wolfsburg, their previous generations of footballers have made quite a few deep runs in the past, winning the tournament against Borussia Dortmund in 2015 and finishing runners-up to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1995.

For Germany-born American international John Brooks, this was an opportunity to face his former team which he spent six seasons with, scoring 6 goals in 122 appearances for Wolfsburg between 2016 and 2022.

Wolfsburg, in red, kicked off and went right to left in the opening term; the hosts, in white, would go left to right when on the attack. Altglienicke were off on the front foot from kickoff, and would get the first shot on target after just a minute and a half. Jonas Hartl played the ball short on the right side of the Wolfsburg half, finding Emeka Odush; the 24-year-old German winger weaved his way between Hauke Wahl and Kilian Fischer before teeing up the ball for a sliding attempt towards the centre of the goal from Jonas Nietfeld. Jakub Zieliński squared up to meet it perfectly, deflecting it to his right before Fischer would hoof it well away from danger.

Three minutes later, Sven Sonnenberg would deliver the ball into the left side of the Wolfsburg third, where Lennart Czyborra was placed. The 27-year-old left-back, who formerly played for Genoa CFC in Serie A, delivered a thunderous pass close to the goal area, where Nietfeld would slam it past Zieliński to give Altglienicke a surprising early lead.

In the tenth minute, Wolfsburg would see their first chance of the evening, as a longshot from Muhammed Damar, towards the bottom-right corner, was deflected away for an eventually unsuccessful corner by Luis Zwick. This was soon followed by a free kick the other way, delivered into the centre of the box from the right side of the Wolfsburg third by Tim Rieder; it was met by Odush, whose towering header grazed the outside of the right post before eventually going out.

Twenty-one minutes in, a short pass in the Altglienicke defensive half from Zwick to David Kebe was intercepted by a lunging Fabian Reese, whose following shot was pawed away just before it could deflect off the bar. Reese’s outswinging corner was hit back into the box by Damar, deflected towards the bottom-left corner by Joakim Mæhle amongst a scramble of players; Zwick read the play well, comfortably gloving the ball down with both hands.
Wolfsburg would not get another chance until the thirty-eighth minute, as a cross from Reese into the right side of the box was headed towards the top-right corner by Alexander Bernhardsson. Zwick was challenged by Kento Shiogai in a midair contest for the ball, but grabbed onto it with both hands before it could spring to the Japanese international.

Head official Jarno Wienefeld called both teams to the locker rooms soon after, with Altglienicke leading by a goal to none at the break. Wolfsburg outshot Altglienicke 11-5, 8-2 on target with 75 % possession in the opening term, and an 89 % accuracy on 300 passes to 65 % on just 73.

Wolfsburg would get the first chance of the second half after just four minutes, as a Kumbedi pass into the centre of the goal area from the left side slipped past Shiogai. It landed in front of Bernhardsson in the centre of the box, but his initial shot was pawed away by the gloves of Zwick; the rebound went back to the Swedish international, but the German goalkeeper got back in time to send the ball away with his left leg.

In the fifty-fifth minute, Bernhardsson progressed the ball on the right side of the Altglienicke half, before passing back to the captain and substitute, Maximilian Arnold. The 32-year-old defensive midfielder pinged the following shot off the inside of the left post and over the line to draw Wolfsburg level. The visitors nearly took the lead just a few minutes later, as Bernhardsson deflected the ball off the left arm of a sliding Czyborra inside the box; Wienefeld would not endorse the calls for a penalty, seeing as Czyborra had his arm close to his body at that moment.

Four minutes after the hour mark, Altglienicke registered their first shot on target in the second term. It came off a strong individual effort from Czyborra, who got around Bernhardsson before powering a shot towards the centre of the goal; Zieliński reached out to meet the ball with both hands before Kumbedi cleared it for the visitors.

Kumbedi would then start the following counterattack, as he played the ball short to Rexhbeçaj - who then threaded the ball into the right side of the box to Shiogai. Despite his best effort to smash the ball into the top-right corner as fast as possible, Shiogai’s attempt was smothered by Czyborra, who converged into the open space to knock it away for a corner - one that would be instantly cleared.

In the seventy-second minute, Zieliński received a pass back from Fischer as the visitors looked to regroup and spring into another counterattack. What would usually be a routine play turned into a complete mishap for Wolfsburg, as a standing tackle from Saliger won possession for the hosts. It became a footrace for the ball between the Polish goalkeeper and the German winger, but the former would tap the ball first - into the bottom-left corner to put Altglienicke in front.

However, Wolfsburg would eventually find their way back, just six minutes from the 90. Substitute Bence Dárdai was brought down at the edge of the box, allowing Arnold to step up for the ensuing free kick. In his trademark way, Arnold bended the free kick past a surprised Zwick and into the top-right corner to knot the score even at two.

Despite repeated attempts to win the match, with all of the late momentum - including a pair of shots from Damar that were denied by a leaping Zwick - Wolfsburg ultimately could not find the back of the net in stoppage time, and this match went to an extra 30 minutes, level at two.

Wolfsburg would continue with the same form of pressure in the first half of extra time, with their first notable opportunity having come four and a half minutes. Swiss substitute Alessio Besio played the ball to the edge of the box to Damar, whose right-footed shot just missed the bottom-left corner by a few metres. The Berlin-born attacking midfielder would get another chance in the thirteenth minute, but it sailed over the crossbar without testing Zwick too much.

Mehmet Ibrahimi was brought on for Altglienicke to start the second half of extra time, and he would make an almost instant impact - as just four minutes later, a failed clearance from Arnold in the centre of the Wolfsburg half landed to the 23-year-old forward. Finding enough open space for a direct shot at goal, Ibrahimi powered the ball above Zieliński and into the centre of the net to give the hosts their third lead in the Berlin dusk.

The only realistic possibility for Wolfsburg from here on out was penalties, and they went straight for it, not letting up despite some aggressive centralised defending from the hosts. Arnold launched a shot from distance towards the bottom-right corner in the fifth-last minute, but it deflected off Philip Türpitz for a corner to the visitors. The ensuing set piece was hit slightly too far but recovered by Reese, whose following cross was eventually tapped over the line by Wahl to draw the visitors level.

The match ultimately went down to penalties, where all of the first seven penalties were converted before Zwick denied Reese of the bottom-left corner. With a chance to create a stunning upset, Sonnenberg attempted to pick out the bottom-left corner, but was denied by Zieliński - and Besio followed by blasting his penalty just under the bar and over the line.

In the seventh round of penalties, Ibrahimi’s right-footed shot went for the bottom-left corner, but was blocked by the glove of Zieliński. Fischer would then send Wolfsburg through, allowing Zwick to dive towards the bottom-left corner before tapping the ball bottom-right. After a highly competitive match that had so many twists, VfL Wolfsburg confirmed their place in the second round of the DFB-Pokal - and will face an opponent to be determined on Tuesday, October 27 or Wednesday, October 28.