1997 DFB-Pokal Final
# 1997 DFB-Pokal Final

The 1997 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 1996–97 DFB-Pokal, the 54th season of Germany's premier knockout football cup competition. It was played on 14 June 1997 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. VfB Stuttgart won the match 2–0 against third-division Energie Cottbus to claim their third cup title.

## Route to the final

The DFB-Pokal began with 64 teams in a single-elimination knockout cup competition. There were a total of five rounds leading up to the final. Teams were drawn against each other, and the winner after 90 minutes would advance. If still tied, 30 minutes of extra time was played. If the score was still level, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner.

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

| VfB Stuttgart | VfB Stuttgart | Round | Energie Cottbus | Energie Cottbus |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Opponent | Result | 1996–97 DFB-Pokal | Opponent | Result |
| Fortuna Köln (H) | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–1 p) | Round 1 | Stuttgarter Kickers (H) | 1–0 (a.e.t.) |
| Hertha BSC (A) | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) | Round 2 | VfL Wolfsburg (H) | 1–0 |
| FSV Zwickau (H) | 2–0 | Round of 16 | MSV Duisburg (H) | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) |
| SC Freiburg (A) | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) | Quarter-finals | FC St. Pauli (H) | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) |
| Hamburger SV (H) | 2–1 | Semi-finals | Karlsruher SC (H) | 3–0 |

## Match

### Details

| VfB Stuttgart | Energie Cottbus |
| - | - |
| GK | 1 | Franz Wohlfahrt |
| SW | 5 | Frank Verlaat (c) |
| CB | 8 | Marco Haber |
| CB | 4 | Thomas Berthold |
| RWB | 7 | Matthias Hagner | 70' |
| LWB | 3 | Thorsten Legat |
| CM | 20 | Zvonimir Soldo |
| CM | 16 | Gerhard Poschner |
| AM | 10 | Krasimir Balakov |
| CF | 9 | Giovane Élber | 89' |
| CF | 11 | Fredi Bobic | 81' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 25 | Marc Ziegler |
| DF | 14 | Thomas Schneider | 70' |
| MF | 12 | Danny Schwarz | 89' |
| MF | 21 | Sébastien Fournier |
| MF | 22 | Andreas Buck |
| FW | 15 | Radosław Gilewicz | 81' |
| FW | 35 | Sreto Ristić |
| Manager: ||
| Joachim Löw ||
| GK | 1 | Kay Wehner |
| SW | 3 | Thomas Hoßmang |
| CB | 4 | Sven Benken |
| CB | 5 | Jens Melzig (c) |
| RWB | 7 | Ingo Schneider | 65' |
| LWB | 14 | Jörg Woltmann | 81' |
| DM | 21 | Willi Kronhardt |
| CM | 8 | Jens-Uwe Zöphel |
| CM | 6 | Detlef Irrgang |
| CF | 17 | Frank Seifert | 65' |
| CF | 9 | Toralf Konetzke |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 31 | Edmund Rottler |
| DF | 23 | Kay Wenschlag |
| MF | 12 | Igor Lazić | 65' |
| MF | 15 | Michael Hennig |
| MF | 16 | Lars Mebus |
| MF | 24 | Moses Enguelle | 81' |
| FW | 11 | Matthias Zimmerling | 65' |
| Manager: ||
| Eduard Geyer ||

* Match rules
* 90 minutes.
* 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
* Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
* Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.
