Every year, the magic of the DFB Pokal throws up another surprise. Last year, third division side 1. FC Saarbrücken reached the semifinal and 2. Bundesliga side 1. FC Kaiserslautern managed to take it one step further, making it all the way to the final in Berlin, where they narrowly lost to Bayer Leverkusen (0-1).

This year, the DFB Pokal once again has a wonderful underdog story in the form of Arminia Bielefeld. On Tuesday, the 3. Liga (third division) side beat Bundesliga club Werder Bremen 2-1 thanks to goals by Marius Wörl (35’) and an own goal by Julian Malatini (41’). Oliver Burke halved the lead in the second half, but it was too little too late.

Werder became the third Bundesliga side to fall to Arminia this season. After knocking out Hannover 96 in the first round (2-0), Bielefeld eliminated Union Berlin (2-0) and then SC Freiburg (3-1) to reach the quarterfinals of the competition. The win over Werder on Tuesday marks Bielefeld’s first appearance in the semifinal since the 2014/15 season.

That year, Bielefeld was eliminated by VfL Wolfsburg. The Autostädter would then move on to beat Borussia Dortmund in the final in Berlin. That game was Jürgen Klopp’s final game in charge of Dortmund.

Dortmund is out of the competition. But history could repeat itself if Wolfsburg beat RB Leipzig in the final quarterfinal on Wednesday morning. The other two clubs that have already advanced are VfB Stuttgart and last year’s winners Bayer Leverkusen.

Whether it is Wolfsburg, Leipzig, Stuttgart, or Leverkusen, Bielefeld would be a significant underdog against any of those teams. No third-division team has reached the final since Union Berlin’s 2-0 defeat to Schalke in 2001.

Reaching the final is almost more important than the financials. Gegenpressing reported that 3. Liga side 1. FC Saarbrücken earned around €7 million ($7.2 million) from reaching the semifinal of the competition last year. To put that in perspective, that is almost the entire Transfermarkt squad value of the club.

It is also a significant amount of money for a club that has spent the better part of the last decade yo-yoing between the Bundesliga and third division. Arminia suffered back-to-back relegations in 2022 and 2023 to find themselves in the third division and then almost got relegated once again last year.

Bielefeld has been better this year and is currently just four points behind Saarbrücken. Die Saarländer occupy the promotion playoff spot. Indeed, Saarbrücken is a good example of what a cup run can mean for a club of this size.

Saarbrücken has taken the momentum into this season and is a serious contender for 2. Bundesliga promotion. The same is true for Kaiserslautern, the team that eliminated them last year.

Kaiserslautern’s fairytale run to the DFB Pokal was somewhat overshadowed by the club’s poor 2. Bundesliga season. Die Roten Teufel only fought off relegation on the second last matchday of the season. But on the backs of the DFB Pokal run, Lautern has put together an excellent season this year and is a candidate for Bundesliga promotion.