Saarbrücken starts against Cottbus: Third division season 2025/26 begins!

Saarbrücken starts against Cottbus: Third division season 2025/26 begins!

On July 3, 2025, the German Football Association (DFB) announced the third division schedule for the 2025/26 season. 1. FC Saarbrücken will open its new season on the first weekend in August with an away game against Energie Cottbus. The DFB announced this on Thursday.

The duel between Saarbrücken and Cottbus is particularly exciting as both teams fought hard for a relegation place in the previous season. Saarbrücken's first home game takes place a week later against FC Viktoria Köln.

Important games and derbies

Another remarkable duel of the season is coming up for 1. FC Saarbrücken: The first away game against a second division relegated team, SV Wehen Wiesbaden, is scheduled for the end of September. The Southwest derby against SV Waldhof Mannheim is also scheduled for the first weekend in December. The Saarlanders' last game before the winter break is away against Hansa Rostock.

The season will conclude with a home game at the Ludwigsparkstadion against Hansa Rostock on May 16, 2026. The kick-off times of the games remain unchanged and are set as follows: Friday evening at 7:00 p.m., on Saturdays most games take place at 2:00 p.m., while one starts at 4:30 p.m. On Sundays there are games at 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and on weekly game days, Tuesday and Wednesday, the matches start at 7:00 p.m.

Energie Cottbus and regional derbies

The season also gets off to a promising start for Energie Cottbus with a home game against 1. FC Saarbrücken, which will be played either on Saturday, August 2nd or Sunday, August 3rd. The Cottbus team will play the second matchday against the newly promoted Bavarian FC Schweinfurt, followed by a DFB Cup home game against the second division team Hannover 96.

The Cottbus team also has an interesting new addition in the form of the influencer and YouTube star Nader El-Jindaoui, who was previously active in the youth team at Energie Cottbus and has now signed with TSG Hoffenheim II. A total of four eastern derbies are planned for the season, including the 6th matchday against FC Erzgebirge Aue and another in the 9th round, in which Cottbus will travel to FC Hansa Rostock. The season for Energie Cottbus ends with an away game at SSV Jahn Regensburg on May 16, 2026.

The announcement of the game times and the competition season already sheds light on the tense but exciting encounters that fans can expect this year. SR.de reports on these developments while maz-online.de offers further details about the matches.