2025–26 1. FC Köln season

1. FC Köln
2025–26 season
Manager	Lukas Kwasniok
Stadium	RheinEnergieStadion
Bundesliga	6th
DFB-Pokal	Second round
Top goalscorer	; Jakub Kaminski (4); Said El Mala (4)
Biggest win	1. FC Köln 4–1 SC Freiburg; 31 August 2025, Bundesliga
Biggest defeat	RB Leipzig 3–1 1. FC Köln; 20 September 2025, Bundesliga
	All statistics correct as of 21 September 2025.

The 2025–26 season was the 78th season in the history of 1. FC Köln. In addition to the domestic league, the team is participating in the DFB-Pokal.

Players

Current squad

As of 3 September 2025^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	GER	Marvin Schwäbe (captain)
2	DF	SUI	Joël Schmied
3	DF	GER	Dominique Heintz
4	DF	GER	Timo Hübers
5	MF	GER	Tom Krauß (on loan from Mainz 05)
6	MF	GER	Eric Martel
7	FW	GER	Luca Waldschmidt
8	MF	BIH	Denis Huseinbašić
9	FW	GER	Ragnar Ache
11	MF	AUT	Florian Kainz
13	MF	GER	Said El Mala
15	DF	GER	Luca Kilian
16	FW	POL	Jakub Kamiński (on loan from VfL Wolfsburg)
17	MF	BEL	Alessio Castro-Montes


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	MF	ISL	Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson
19	FW	GER	Malek El Mala
20	GK	GER	Ron-Robert Zieler
25	DF	BIH	Jusuf Gazibegović
28	DF	NOR	Sebastian Sebulonsen
29	FW	GER	Jan Thielmann
30	FW	GER	Marius Bülter
32	DF	USA	Kristoffer Lund (on loan from Palermo)
33	DF	NED	Rav van den Berg
34	MF	GER	Fayssal Harchaoui
37	MF	GER	Linton Maina
39	DF	TUR	Cenk Özkacar (on loan from Valencia)
44	GK	GER	Matthias Köbbing
46	MF	BIH	Emin Kujović

Transfers

Transfers in

Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Date	Source
FW	Ragnar Ache (GER)	1. FC Kaiserslautern	Undisclosed	27 May 2025	^[2]
GK	Ron-Robert Zieler (GER)	Free agent (previously Hannover 96)	Free	1 July 2025	^[3]
FW	Marius Bülter (GER)	TSG Hoffenheim	Undisclosed	31 July 2025	^[4]
DF	Rav van den Berg (NED)	Middlesbrough	up to €13 million	13 August 2025	^[5]

Transfers out

Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Date	Source
FW	Damion Downs (USA)	Southampton	Undisclosed	9 July 2025	^[6]

Loans in

Pos.	Player	Loaned from	Date from	Date until	Source
MF	Tom Krauß (GER)	Mainz 05	17 July 2025	End of season	^[7]
DF	Cenk Özkacar (TUR)	Valencia	9 August 2025	End of season	^[8]

Loans out

Pos.	Player	Loaned to	Date from	Date until	Source
DF	Elias Bakatukanda (GER)	Blau-Weiß Linz	1 July 2025	End of season	^[9]
DF	Rasmus Carstensen (DEN)	Aarhus GF	7 July 2025	End of season	^[10]
MF	Chilohem Onuoha (GER)	SC Verl	17 July 2025	End of season	^[11]
DF	Julian Pauli (GER)	Dynamo Dresden	29 August 2025	End of season	^[12]
FW	Imad Rondić (BIH)	Raków Częstochowa	2 September 2025	End of season	^[13]
FW	Jaka Čuber Potočnik (SVN)	Rot-Weiss Essen	7 September 2025	End of season	^[14]

Competitions

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Bundesliga	24 August 2025	16 May 2026	Matchday 1	11	4	2	5	20	19	+1	036.36
DFB-Pokal	17 August 2025	29 October 2025	First Round	2	1	0	1	3	5	−2	050.00
Total				13	5	2	6	23	24	−1	038.46

Last updated: 2 November 2025
Source: DFB

Bundesliga

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
9	SC Freiburg	15	5	5	5	25	26	−1	20
10	Werder Bremen	15	4	5	6	18	28	−10	17
11	1. FC Köln	15	4	4	7	22	24	−2	16
12	Borussia Mönchengladbach	15	4	4	7	18	24	−6	16
13	Hamburger SV	15	4	4	7	16	25	−9	16

Updated to match(es) played on 21 December 2025. Source: Bundesliga
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored; 6) Away goals scored; 7) Play-off.^[15]
(Rules 4–6 only apply after home and away matches have been played between the tied teams.)

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
12	4	4	4	21	19	+2	16	2	2	1	13	8	+5	2	2	3	8	11	−3

Last updated: 29 November 2025.
Source: Bundesliga

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Ground	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	W	W	D	L	L	W	D	L	W	L	L
Position	7	3	3	4	7	6	6	8	7	9

Updated to match(es) played on 2 November 2025. Source: FotMob
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

24 August 2025 Matchday 1	Mainz 05	0–1	1. FC Köln	Mainz
15:30	Feil 29' Gerezgiher 48' Asllani 46' 67' Schmahl 62'	Report	Huseinbasic 22' Martel 45+4' Heintz 60' Hübers 84'	Stadium: MEWA Arena Attendance: 9,502 Referee: Tom Bauer

31 August 2025 Matchday 2	1. FC Köln	4–1	SC Freiburg	Cologne
20:30	Kamiński 35' Martel 41' Bülter 47' Schmied 55' El Mala 81'	Report	Manzambi 29' Eggestein 84'	Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Tobias Reichel

13 September 2025 Matchday 3	Wolfsburg	3–3	1. FC Köln	Wolfsburg
15:30	Amoura 42' Majer 65' 68' Grabara 86' Arnold 90+9'	Report	Waldschmidt 5' Zieler 69' Schmied 72' Johannesson 84' 90+1' Kaminski 90+14'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena Attendance: 61,426 Referee: Sven Jablonski

20 September 2025 Matchday 4	RB Leipzig	3–1	1. FC Köln	Leipzig
18:30	Ouedraogo 13' Cruz 44' Raum 45+4' Baku 69'	Report	Thielmann 23' Martel 45+3'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 47,117 Referee: Benjamin Brand

28 September 2025 Matchday 5	1. FC Köln	1–2	VfB Stuttgart	Cologne
17:30	Kaminski 4' Schmied 67' Krauß 76'		Demirović 28' (pen.) Jaquez 78' Vagnoman 81' Bouanani 90+1'	Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion Referee: Matthias Jöllenbeck

3 October 2025 Matchday 6	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim	0–1	1. FC Köln	Sinsheim
20:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Touré 10' Bernardo 20' Burger 39'	Report	El Mala 16' Sebulonsen 90+4'	Stadium: PreZero Arena Attendance: 30,150 Referee: Felix Zwayer

18 October 2025 Matchday 7	1. FC Köln	1–1	FC Augsburg	Cologne
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Jóhannesson 61' Thielmann 64' El Mala 76'	Report	Kade 7' Jakić 20' Rieder 54' Sandro Wagner 63'	Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Timo Gerach

25 October 2025 Matchday 8	Borussia Dortmund	1–0	1. FC Köln	Dortmund
18:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Guirassy 63' Beier 90+1' 90+6'	Report	Jóhannesson 44' Sebulonsen 45'	Stadium: Signal Iduna Park Attendance: 81,365 Referee: Benjamin Brand

2 November 2025 Matchday 9	1. FC Köln	4–1	Hamburger SV	Cologne
15:30 CET (UTC+1)	Ache 25' Kainz 48' Bülter 78' El Mala 90+4' Kamiński 90+9'	Report	Remberg 10' Dompé 61' Vieira 74' 83' Pherai 78' 79' Poulsen 79' Polzin 84'	Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Daniel Schlager

8 November 2025 Matchday 10	Borussia Mönchengladbach	3–1	1. FC Köln	Mönchengladbach
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Reitz 11' Sander 45+2' Diks 61' (pen.), 75' Tabaković 64'	Report	Huseinbašić 34' Waldschmidt 90+2' (pen.) Sebulonsen 75' Ache 75'	Stadium: Borussia-Park Attendance: 54,042 Referee: Deniz Aytekin

22 November 2025 Matchday 11	1. FC Köln	3–3	Eintracht Frankfurt	Cologne
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Kaminski 4' Bülter 83' Waldschmidt 90+4'	Report	Theate 39' Dahoud 45+6' Burkardt 59', 63'	Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Florian Badstübner

29 November 2025 Matchday 12	SV Werder Bremen	1–1	1. FC Köln	Bremen
15:30	Friedl 22' Stark 75'		Castro-Montes 39' Thielmann 75' Martel 78' El Mala 90+1' Bulter 90+6'	Stadium: Weser-Stadion Referee: Bastian Dankert

6 December 2025 Matchday 13	1. FC Köln	1–1	FC St. Pauli	Cologne
	El Mala 51'		Jones 90+4', 90+5'	Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Tobias Reichel

13 December 2025 Matchday 14	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	2–0	1. FC Köln	Leverkusen
	Arthur 51' Terrier 66' Andrich 72' Quansah 74'		Martel 5'	Stadium: BayArena Attendance: 30,210 Referee: Harm Osmers

20 December 2025 Matchday 15	1. FC Köln	0–1	1. FC Union Berlin	Cologne
	Sebulonsen 13' Krauß 49' van den Berg 82'		Trimmel 40' Kemlein 80' Schäfer 88', 90+1' Juranović 90+4' Rønnow 90+8'	Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion Referee: Christian Dingert

10 January 2026 Matchday 16	1. FC Heidenheim 1846	v	1. FC Köln	Heidenheim an der Brenz
				Stadium: Voith-Arena

14 January 2026 Matchday 17	1. FC Köln	v	FC Bayern Munich	Cologne
				Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

17 January 2026 Matchday 18	1. FC Köln	v	1. FSV Mainz 05	Cologne
				Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

24 January 2026 Matchday 19	SC Freiburg	v	1. FC Köln	Freiburg im Breisgau
				Stadium: Europa-Park Stadion

31 January 2026 Matchday 20	1. FC Köln	v	VfL Wolfsburg	Cologne
				Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

7 February 2026 Matchday 21	1. FC Köln	v	RB Leipzig	Cologne
				Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

14 February 2026 Matchday 22	VfB Stuttgart	v	1. FC Köln	Stuttgart
				Stadium: MHPArena

21 February 2026 Matchday 23	1. FC Köln	v	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim	Cologne
				Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

28 February 2026 Matchday 24	FC Augsburg	v	1. FC Köln	Augsburg
				Stadium: WWK Arena

7 March 2026 Matchday 25	1. FC Köln	v	Borussia Dortmund	Cologne
				Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

14 March 2026 Matchday 26	Hamburger SV	v	1. FC Köln	Hamburg
				Stadium: Volksparkstadion

21 March 2026 Matchday 27	1. FC Köln	v	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Cologne
				Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

4 April 2026 Matchday 28	Eintracht Frankfurt	v	1. FC Köln	Frankfurt
				Stadium: Deutsche Bank Park

11 April 2026 Matchday 29	1. FC Köln	v	SV Werder Bremen	Cologne
				Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

18 April 2026 Matchday 30	FC St. Pauli	v	1. FC Köln	Hamburg
				Stadium: Millerntor-Stadion

25 April 2026 Matchday 31	1. FC Köln	v	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	Cologne
				Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

2 May 2026 Matchday 32	1. FC Union Berlin	v	1. FC Köln	Berlin
				Stadium: Stadion An der Alten Försterei

9 May 2026 Matchday 33	1. FC Köln	v	1. FC Heidenheim 1846	Cologne
				Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

16 May 2026 Matchday 34	FC Bayern Munich	v	1. FC Köln	Munich
15:30				Stadium: Allianz Arena

DFB-Pokal

17 August 2025 First Round	Jahn Regensburg	1–2	1. FC Köln	Regensburg
15:30	Benedikt Bauer 66'	Report	Martel 90+6' 88' Jóhannesson 90+8' Maina 30'	Stadium: Jahnstadion Regensburg Attendance: 13,396 Referee: Christian Dingert

29 October 2025 Second Round	1. FC Köln	1–4	FC Bayern Munich	Cologne
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	El Mala 3' Ache 31'	Report	Díaz 36' 45+2' Kane 38', 64' Olise 72' Upamecano 85'	Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Tobias Welz

References

^ "1. FC KÖLN Saison 2023/24". 1. FC Köln (in German). Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ "Ragnar Ache joins 1. FC Köln". 1. FC Köln. 27 May 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
^ "Ron-Robert Zieler returns to FC". 1. FC Köln. 1 July 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
^ "Köln verpflichtet Marius Bülter". Bild (in German). 31 July 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
^ "Middlesbrough: Defender Rav van den Berg leaves to join Cologne". BBC Sport. 13 August 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
^ "Damion Downs joins Southampton". 1. FC Köln. 9 July 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
^ "Tom Krauß signs for FC". 1. FC Köln. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
^ "Verstärkung für die Defensive: Köln leiht Valencias Özkacar aus". kicker (in German). 9 August 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
^ "Bakatukanda's loan extended". 1. FC Köln. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
^ "Rasmus Carstensen loaned to Aarhus GF". 1. FC Köln. 7 July 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
^ "Offensivtalent Onuoha wird erneut ausgeliehen" (in German). 1. FC Köln. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
^ "Verlängerung und Leihe: Kölns Pauli wechselt nach Dresden". kicker (in German). 29 August 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
^ "Imad Rondic piłkarzem Rakowa Częstochowa". Flashscore.pl (in Polish). 2 September 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
^ "FC loan out Jaka Cuber Potocnik to Rot-Weiss Essen". 1. FC Köln. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
^ "DFL–Spielordnung (SpOL)" [Match rules] (PDF) (in German). Deutsche Fußball Liga. 29 May 2025. p. 3. Retrieved 21 June 2025.

[1] "1. FC KÖLN Saison 2023/24". 1. FC Köln (in German). Retrieved 4 July 2023.

[2] "Ragnar Ache joins 1. FC Köln". 1. FC Köln. 27 May 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.

[3] "Ron-Robert Zieler returns to FC". 1. FC Köln. 1 July 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.

[4] "Köln verpflichtet Marius Bülter". Bild (in German). 31 July 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.

[5] "Middlesbrough: Defender Rav van den Berg leaves to join Cologne". BBC Sport. 13 August 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.

[6] "Damion Downs joins Southampton". 1. FC Köln. 9 July 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.

[7] "Tom Krauß signs for FC". 1. FC Köln. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.

[8] "Verstärkung für die Defensive: Köln leiht Valencias Özkacar aus". kicker (in German). 9 August 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.

[9] "Bakatukanda's loan extended". 1. FC Köln. Retrieved 18 November 2025.

[10] "Rasmus Carstensen loaned to Aarhus GF". 1. FC Köln. 7 July 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.

[11] "Offensivtalent Onuoha wird erneut ausgeliehen" (in German). 1. FC Köln. Retrieved 18 November 2025.

[12] "Verlängerung und Leihe: Kölns Pauli wechselt nach Dresden". kicker (in German). 29 August 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.

[13] "Imad Rondic piłkarzem Rakowa Częstochowa". Flashscore.pl (in Polish). 2 September 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.

[14] "FC loan out Jaka Cuber Potocnik to Rot-Weiss Essen". 1. FC Köln. Retrieved 18 November 2025.

[15] "DFL–Spielordnung (SpOL)" [Match rules] (PDF) (in German). Deutsche Fußball Liga. 29 May 2025. p. 3. Retrieved 21 June 2025.

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