The small club Elversberg has won promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time

The small club Elversberg was promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time on Sunday by finishing second in Germany’s second division, behind the already promoted Schalke.

Early goals from Bambasé Conté and David Mokwa, followed by another from Mokwa, gave Elversberg a 3–0 home win over bottom side Preußen Münster, enough to move ahead of Paderborn on goal difference.

Elversberg becomes the 59th club to play in the top division since the Bundesliga was founded in 1963.

Three teams were level on points going into the final round, with Hannover and Paderborn both hoping for an unlikely favor from already relegated Münster against Elversberg, who had the better goal difference.

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Hannover were on course to finish third and enter the play-off when leading 3-2 in Nuremberg, but Luka Lochoshvili scored late on for the visitor to allow Paderborn to move above Hannover into third place with a 2-0 win in Darmstadt.

As a result, Paderborn will face Wolfsburg in a two-match play-off to decide which team will play in the Bundesliga next season.

Wolfsburg, who finished third from bottom in the Bundesliga on Saturday, will host the first leg of the play-off on Thursday.

Published on May 17, 2026