Bundesliga Teams 2026-27: All 18 Clubs, Cities and Changes
The Bundesliga keeps its traditional 18-team format in 2026-27. Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart, TSG Hoffenheim, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, SC Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Augsburg, 1. FSV Mainz 05, 1. FC Union Berlin, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hamburger SV, 1. FC Köln, SV Werder Bremen, FC Schalke 04, SV Elversberg and SC Paderborn 07 make up the league. This guide lists each club with its city, explains who came up and who went down, and sets out how the table decides the next group.
TL;DR
- Eighteen clubs compete in 2026-27, and each plays 34 matches: every opponent twice, once at home and once away.
- Schalke 04, SV Elversberg and SC Paderborn 07 were promoted. VfL Wolfsburg, 1. FC Heidenheim and FC St. Pauli were relegated.
- Bayern München are the defending champions after winning 2025-26 with 89 points.
- The bottom two clubs go down automatically. The club in 16th place plays a two-legged play-off against the third-placed 2. Bundesliga side.
- Live scores, AI win probabilities and momentum for every Bundesliga match are available on BetsyScore.
Table of Contents
- The 18 Bundesliga teams and their cities
- Geography of the league
- Who joined and who left for 2026-27
- How the Bundesliga decides its teams
- The 2026-27 season at a glance
- Our perspective
- Follow every Bundesliga team on BetsyScore
- Fixtures worth following among the 18
- How to read a Bundesliga team’s profile
- Common questions about the league’s membership
- FAQ
- Sources
The 18 Bundesliga teams and their cities
The official Bundesliga stadium overview for 2026/27 pairs each club with the city it represents. Several clubs are known by a name that differs from their home town, so the table below keeps both in view.
| Club | City |
|---|---|
| FC Bayern München | Munich |
| Borussia Dortmund | Dortmund |
| RB Leipzig | Leipzig |
| VfB Stuttgart | Stuttgart |
| TSG Hoffenheim | Sinsheim |
| Bayer 04 Leverkusen | Leverkusen |
| SC Freiburg | Freiburg |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | Frankfurt |
| FC Augsburg | Augsburg |
| 1. FSV Mainz 05 | Mainz |
| 1. FC Union Berlin | Berlin |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | Mönchengladbach |
| Hamburger SV | Hamburg |
| 1. FC Köln | Cologne |
| SV Werder Bremen | Bremen |
| FC Schalke 04 | Gelsenkirchen |
| SV Elversberg | Elversberg |
| SC Paderborn 07 | Paderborn |
Two naming points matter for readers outside Germany. First, 1. FC Köln is the club of Cologne, and English-language coverage uses both spellings. Second, TSG Hoffenheim plays in Sinsheim, not in a city called Hoffenheim, and FC Schalke 04 represents Gelsenkirchen.
FC Bayern München is based in Munich and plays at the Allianz Arena, which has a capacity of 75,000. The league’s official club page carries each club’s profile for the 2026-2027 season.
Geography of the league
The 2026-27 list spreads across the country, with a heavy concentration in the west. Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Leverkusen, Cologne and Mönchengladbach all sit in the Rhine and Ruhr region, which gives the season several short-distance derbies. Munich, Augsburg, Stuttgart and Freiburg represent the south. Hamburg and Bremen hold the north. Berlin and Leipzig are the east’s contribution, while Frankfurt, Mainz and Sinsheim sit in the centre and south-west.
Elversberg adds a new corner. The club is the first from Saarland in the top flight since Saarbrücken were relegated in 1992-93, according to the season’s reference entry. Elversberg is a small community, and its presence is one of the more distinctive features of this season’s roster.
Who joined and who left for 2026-27
Three clubs entered the top flight and three left. The changes affect the league’s balance of tradition and newness.
Promoted clubs
- FC Schalke 04 won the 2025-26 2. Bundesliga with 70 points.
- SV Elversberg finished as runners-up and earned automatic promotion. The club made its Bundesliga debut and became the 59th different club to play in the competition’s history.
- SC Paderborn 07 secured the final place by beating Wolfsburg 2-1 in the promotion/relegation play-off.
Relegated clubs
- FC St. Pauli and 1. FC Heidenheim finished in the two automatic relegation places.
- VfL Wolfsburg lost the play-off to Paderborn. According to the season’s reference entry, it was the first relegation in the club’s history since it gained promotion in 1997.
The sequence shows how the system works in practice: two clubs went up directly from the second tier, and the third place was decided over two matches against a Bundesliga side.
How the Bundesliga decides its teams
Eighteen clubs, one table. Each plays every opponent twice, giving 34 matches per team. A win earns three points, a draw one and a defeat none.
At the bottom, the rule is fixed:
- The clubs in 17th and 18th place are automatically relegated to 2. Bundesliga.
- The club in 16th place enters a two-legged play-off against the third-placed 2. Bundesliga side.
- The two top finishers in 2. Bundesliga are promoted automatically.
The play-off rule is the same one that decided Paderborn’s promotion. For 2026-27, the relegation play-offs are scheduled for 27 May and 31 May 2027.
The 2026-27 season at a glance
The 2026-27 Bundesliga is the 64th season of Germany’s premier men’s football competition, and it runs from 28 August 2026 to 22 May 2027. The opening match was played on Friday 28 August 2026, one week later than the previous campaign’s start, as reported by the league’s broadcast coverage.
Bayern München enter as defending champions. They won 2025-26 with 89 points, winning 28 of 34 matches and losing only once. Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig are the most frequently named challengers in the domestic picture.
The newcomers have already left marks on the fixture list. Elversberg beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 on 29 August 2026 in a match recorded with full stats, and lost 1-2 to Bayern München on 13 September 2026 in another result with its own stat page.
Our perspective
We read the Bundesliga as a league of eighteen distinct profiles, not a single hierarchy. A list of names answers the question of who is in the league. It does not answer what each side is likely to do on Saturday.
That is why we build around three inputs: expected goals, recent form and head-to-head records. Together they produce the win-probability percentages shown on every match page, and a minute-by-minute momentum read shows which side is on top while the game is live. For a league with three new faces, this matters: newly promoted clubs have little top-flight history, so form and expected goals carry more weight in the picture than reputation.
Our scores refresh every few seconds, so the numbers on screen keep pace with the match. The aim is a fast, clean, data-first view of the Bundesliga that is useful before kick-off, during play and after the final whistle.
Aria
Follow every Bundesliga team on BetsyScore
BetsyScore covers the Bundesliga alongside the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Champions League, the FIFA World Cup 2026 and more than 200 competitions worldwide. For each match, the platform offers live lineups, instant stats, highlights and AI-powered win probabilities. To see what is happening right now, open the live scores page. For forecasts built from expected goals, form and head-to-head data, use the AI match predictions.
The predicted scorelines for every match today gather the day’s forecasts in one place.
Fixtures worth following among the 18
Some pairings in this season’s list carry more context than others. Each has a dedicated page on BetsyScore.
- Bayern München vs Borussia Dortmund: the league’s best-known fixture. See the prediction and lineups.
- Bayern München vs RB Leipzig: a meeting between the defending champions and one of the main challengers. The head-to-head record lays out earlier results, and there is a match preview with lineups.
- Borussia Dortmund vs RB Leipzig: the head-to-head page shows how the two have fared against each other.
- Bayer Leverkusen vs RB Leipzig: a match page with prediction and a completed result of 2-0 for Leverkusen with lineups and stats.
- RB Leipzig vs Eintracht Frankfurt: see the prediction and lineups.
- SV Elversberg vs FC Augsburg: a good test of how a promoted club handles a settled mid-table side, with prediction and lineups available.
How to read a Bundesliga team’s profile
A club name gives a starting point. These data points give a fuller picture:
- Points per match. With 34 matches and three points for a win, points per match is the cleanest way to compare clubs across seasons. Bayern’s 2025-26 total of 89 points is an average of about 2.6 per match.
- Expected goals. The measure compares the quality of chances created and conceded, and it helps separate lucky results from sustainable performance.
- Recent form. A short run of results shows whether a squad is rising or fading, which is especially useful for promoted clubs.
- Head-to-head record. Some pairings repeat patterns over many meetings, and the record puts that history in one place.
- Momentum. During a match, a minute-by-minute view of which side holds the initiative shows what the scoreline alone may hide.
Common questions about the league’s membership
The membership changes every year, but the number does not. The format is fixed at 18, so every promotion is matched by a relegation. Newly promoted clubs must replace those that go down, which is why three arrivals mean three departures.
The all-time view is wider. Elversberg’s arrival made it the 59th different club to play in the Bundesliga, which means far more clubs have taken part across the competition’s history than are in the league in any single season.
FAQ
How many teams are in the Bundesliga?
There are 18 teams. Each plays 34 matches, home and away against every other club. The format is unchanged for 2026-27.
Which teams were promoted to the Bundesliga for 2026-27?
FC Schalke 04, SV Elversberg and SC Paderborn 07. Schalke won the 2. Bundesliga title, Elversberg finished second, and Paderborn won the play-off against Wolfsburg.
Which teams were relegated from the Bundesliga?
VfL Wolfsburg, 1. FC Heidenheim and FC St. Pauli. Heidenheim and St. Pauli went down automatically, while Wolfsburg lost the two-legged play-off.
Who are the defending Bundesliga champions?
FC Bayern München won the 2025-26 title with 89 points. They won 28 of 34 matches and lost once, according to the season’s format guide.
Where can I follow Bundesliga teams live?
BetsyScore’s live page shows scores that refresh every few seconds, with lineups, stats, win probabilities and momentum for each match.
Sources
- Bundesliga | Clubs
- Which stadiums will host Bundesliga football in 2026/27?
- Bundesliga 2026-27: Teams, Format and Everything You Need to Know
- Bundesliga 2026-27 quick guide
- 2026–27 Bundesliga