The Game Turned Late
BERLIN — Elversberg is going to the Bundesliga. The small club from Saarland clinched promotion on Sunday by finishing runner-up in Germany's second division, edging Paderborn on goal difference after a 3-0 home win over last-place Preußen Münster.
Early goals from Bambasé Conté and David Mokwa, followed by another from Mokwa, provided all the scoring the club needed. The victory sent Elversberg into the top flight as the 59th club to appear in the Bundesliga since its formation in 1963.
The trophy did not need much decoration; the season had already done most of the talking.
“It's hard to grasp what just happened here,” forward Luca Schnellbacher said. “It feels like a dream. I'd never have imagined that Harry Kane will be walking out at this ground.”
The Small Details Added Up
Elversberg, a town of roughly 13,000 people in Germany's southwest, has traveled an unusually short path to the top. The club was playing in the fourth tier as recently as 2022, earned promotion to the third division that same year, and spent just one season there before reaching the second tier in 2023. Last year, they lost a promotion playoff to Heidenheim — a team that was relegated from the Bundesliga on Saturday.
The final round of the second division produced the usual late drama. Hannover and Paderborn entered the last day level on points with Elversberg, both needing help from already-relegated Münster. Hannover was leading Nuremberg 3-2 and on course for third place and the promotion playoff, but Luka Lochoshvili scored late for Paderborn, who beat Darmstadt 2-0 and moved above Hannover into third.
Paderborn will now face Wolfsburg in a two-leg playoff. Wolfsburg, which finished third from bottom in the Bundesliga on Saturday, hosts the first leg on Thursday.
The Table Looks Different
“We're all a bit speechless,” Hannover captain Enzo Leopold said of watching the playoff spot slip away.
Elsewhere, Schalke signed off on its title-winning season with a 1-0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig. Fortuna Düsseldorf was relegated after a 3-0 loss at Greuther Fürth, with Fürth's goals enough to pass Düsseldorf on goal difference and claim the relegation playoff spot. Braunschweig stayed up despite finishing level with Fürth on goal difference.