2025–26 VfL Wolfsburg season

VfL Wolfsburg
2025–26 season
Managing directorsPeter Christiansen
Michael Meeske
Tim Schumacher
Head coachPaul Simonis
(until 9 November)
Daniel Bauer (interim)
(from 9 November)
StadiumVolkswagen Arena
Bundesliga14th
DFB-PokalSecond round
Top goalscorerLeague: Mohamed Amoura (6)
All: Mohamed Amoura, Dženan Pejčinović (6)
All statistics correct as of 17:17, 22 December 2025 (UTC).

The 2025–26 season is the 81st season in VfL Wolfsburg's history and the club's 29th consecutive season in the Bundesliga.

Background and pre-season

Following the end of the 2023–24 season, manager Niko Kovač was dismissed and replaced by Ralph Hasenhüttl. Under Hasenhüttl, the club performed better than in the previous season, matching the previous season's final points tally of 37 in early March, after 24 matches, with the club 7th in the table.[1] However, after Wolfsburg failed to win any of the following eight matches, Hasenhüttl was sacked and Daniel Bauer took over as interim manager for the final two matches.[1] Wolfsburg finished the 2024–25 season 11th with 43 points.[2]

On 12 June 2025, Paul Simonis was appointed as head coach on a two-year contract.[3]

Following the end of the 2024–25 season, goalkeeper Niklas Klinger, midfielder Bennit Bröger and forwards Bartosz Białek and Kevin Behrens were all released,[4] and forward Lukas Nmecha signed for Premier League club Leeds United after his Wolfsburg contract expired.[5] Young goalkeeper Philipp Schulze and young midfielder Kofi Amoako left for undisclosed fees to SC Verl and Dynamo Dresden respectively,[6][7] whilst first team defenders Cédric Zesiger and Sebastiaan Bornauw also left the club; Zesiger transferred to FC Augsburg for an undisclosed fee, having spent the second half of the previous season on loan at the club,[8] whilst Bornauw joined Leeds United for a fee of €6,000,000.[9]

Forward Mohamed Amoura joined permamently for a fee of around €17,000,000, having agreed a loan with a compulsory purchase option from Union Saint-Gilloise the previous summer.[10] Young goalkeeper Jakub Zielinski signed from Legia Warsaw for an undisclosed fee,[11] as did defender Denis Vavro who transferred from F.C. Copenhagen.[12] Fellow defender Aaron Zehnter signed from SC Paderborn for a fee of €4,500,000,[13] whilst midfielder Vinícius Souza joined from EFL Championship club Sheffield United for an undisclosed fee.[14]

Review

On 9 November 2025, manager Paul Simonis was sacked, having won just twice in the opening 10 matches of the Bundesliga.[15] Under-19 manager Daniel Bauer was appointed as his replacement on an interim basis.[15]

Competitions

Bundesliga

Main article: 2025–26 Bundesliga

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
12 Borussia Mönchengladbach 15 4 4 7 18 24 −6 16
13 Hamburger SV 15 4 4 7 16 25 −9 16
14 VfL Wolfsburg 15 4 3 8 23 28 −5 15
15 FC Augsburg 15 4 2 9 17 28 −11 14
16 FC St. Pauli 15 3 3 9 13 26 −13 12 Qualification for the relegation play-offs
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.[16]
(Rules 4–6 only apply after home and away matches have been played between the tied teams.)

Match details

Bundesliga match details
Round Date Time Opponent Venue Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance League
position		 Ref.
1 23 August 2025 15:30 1. FC Heidenheim Away 3–1 Skov Olsen 20', Svanberg 66', Amoura 87' pen. 15,000 3rd [17]
2 31 August 2025 15:30 Mainz 05 Home 1–1 Zehnter 9' 21,893 6th [18]
3 13 September 2025 15:30 1. FC Köln Home 3–3 Amoura 42', Majer 65', Arnold 90+9' 28,917 8th [19]
4 21 September 2025 19:30 Borussia Dortmund Away 0–1 81,365 12th [20]
5 27 September 2025 15:30 RB Leipzig Home 0–1 23,236 12th [21]
6 4 October 2025 15:30 FC Augsburg Away 1–3 Daghim 65' 28,200 15th [22]
7 18 October 2025 15:30 VfB Stuttgart Home 0–3 26,145 15th [23]
8 25 October 2025 15:30 Hamburger SV Away 1–0 Daghim 15' 57,000 12th [24]
9 2 November 2025 17:30 TSG Hoffenheim Home 2–3 Amoura 14', 56' 19,078 12th [25]
10 7 November 2025 20:30 Werder Bremen Away 1–2 Svanberg 28' 40,500 14th [26]
11 22 November 2025 15:30 Bayer Leverkusen Home 1–3 Vavro 57' 25,036 15th [27]
12 30 November 2025 17:30 Eintracht Frankfurt Away 1–1 Zehnter 67' 58,000 15th [28]
13 6 December 2025 15:30 Union Berlin Home 3–1 Wimmer 10', Amoura 30', Majer 59' 23,045 15th [29]
14 13 December 2025 15:30 Borussia Mönchengladbach Away 3–1 Wimmer 4', 34', Amoura 30' 47,161 13th [30]
15 20 December 2025 15:30 SC Freiburg Home 3–4 Pejčinović 13', 49', 69' 22,045 14th [31]

DFB-Pokal

Main article: 2025–26 DFB-Pokal
DFB-Pokal match details
Round Date Time Opponent Venue Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance Ref.
First round 16 August 2025 15:30 SV Hemelingen Away 9–0 Jenz 13', Skov Olsen 14', Majer 39' pen., Pejčinović 53', 76', 81', Svanberg 61', 71', Černý 72' 6,676 [32]
Second round 28 October 2025 18:30 Holstein Kiel Home 0–1 10,793 [33]

Players

Appearances and goals

As of match played 18 October 2025
Sources:[34][35][36]
Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.
Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Wolfsburg.
Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
Players' appearances and goals by competition
No. Pos. Nat. Name Bundesliga DFB-Pokal Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK POL Kamil Grabara 7 0 1 0 8 0
2 DF GER Kilian Fischer 7 0 1 0 8 0
3 DF SVK Denis Vavro 0 0 1 0 1 0
4 DF GRE Konstantinos Koulierakis 7 0 1 0 8 0
5 MF BRA Vinicius Souza 7 0 1 0 8 0
7 FW DEN Andreas Skov Olsen 4 (2) 1 1 1 5 (2) 2
8 MF HUN Bence Dárdai 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 (1) 0
9 FW ALG Mohamed Amoura 4 (3) 2 0 0 4 (3) 2
10 MF CRO Lovro Majer 4 (3) 1 1 1 5 (3) 2
11 FW DEN Adam Daghim * 2 (3) 1 0 0 2 (3) 1
12 GK AUT Pavao Pervan 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 DF BRA Rogério 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 DF NED Jenson Seelt * 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 (1) 0
15 DF GER Moritz Jenz 7 0 0 (1) 1 7 (1) 1
17 FW GER Dženan Pejčinović 3 (3) 0 1 3 4 (3) 3
18 MF CZE Václav Černý † 0 (2) 0 0 (1) 1 0 (3) 1
19 MF DEN Jesper Lindstrøm * 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 (1) 0
21 DF DEN Joakim Mæhle 5 (1) 0 1 0 6 (1) 0
22 DF FRA Mathys Angely 0 0 0 0 0 0
23 FW DEN Jonas Wind 2 (2) 0 0 0 2 (2) 0
24 MF DEN Christian Eriksen 1 (3) 0 0 0 1 (3) 0
25 MF GER Aaron Zehnter 3 (1) 1 0 0 3 (1) 1
26 DF FRA Saël Kumbedi * 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 (1) 0
27 MF GER Maximilian Arnold 6 1 1 0 7 1
29 GK GER Marius Müller 0 0 0 0 0 0
30 GK POL Jakub Zieliński 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 MF GER Yannick Gerhardt 0 (1) 0 0 (1) 0 0 (2) 0
32 MF SWE Mattias Svanberg 3 (3) 1 0 (1) 2 3 (4) 3
33 DF GER David Odogu † 0 0 0 0 0 0
39 MF AUT Patrick Wimmer 5 0 1 0 6 0
40 MF USA Kevin Paredes 0 0 0 0 0 0

Transfers

In

Date Pos. Player From Fee Ref.
24 June 2025 GK  Jakub Zieliński (POL) Legia Warsaw Undisclosed [11]
30 June 2025 DF  Aaron Zehnter (GER) SC Paderborn €4,500,000 [13]
1 July 2025 DF  Denis Vavro (SVK) F.C. Copenhagen Undisclosed [12]
1 July 2025 FW  Mohamed Amoura (ALG) Union Saint-Gilloise €17,000,000 [10]
5 July 2025 MF  Vinícius Souza (BRA) Sheffield United Undisclosed [14]
10 September 2025 MF  Christian Eriksen (DEN) Manchester United Free transfer [37]

Loans in

Date from Pos. Player From Date until Ref.
23 July 2025 MF  Jesper Lindström (DEN) SSC Napoli End of season [38]
28 August 2025 DF  Saël Kumbedi (FRA) Olympique Lyonnais End of season [39]
1 September 2025 DF  Jenson Seelt (NED) Sunderland End of season [40]
1 September 2025 FW  Adam Daghim (DEN) Red Bull Salzburg End of season [41]

Out

Date Pos. Player To Fee Ref.
7 June 2025 GK  Philipp Schulze (GER) SC Verl Undisclosed [6]
26 June 2025 MF  Kofi Amoako (GER) Dynamo Dresden Undisclosed [7]
30 June 2025 FW  Kevin Behrens (GER) (FC Lugano) Released [4][42]
30 June 2025 FW  Bartosz Białek (POL) (Darmstadt 98) Released [4][43]
30 June 2025 MF  Bennit Bröger (GER) (SC Paderborn) Released [4][44]
30 June 2025 GK  Niklas Klinger (GER) Released [4]
30 June 2025 FW  Lukas Nmecha (GER) (Leeds United) Free transfer [5]
30 June 2025 DF  Cédric Zesiger (SUI) FC Augsburg Undisclosed [8]
1 July 2025 DF  Sebastiaan Bornauw (BEL) Leeds United €6,000,000 [45][9]
16 August 2025 FW  Tiago Tomás (POR) VfB Stuttgart €14,000,000 [46]
1 September 2025 DF  David Odogu (GER) AC Milan €7,000,000 [47]
2 September 2025 FW  Václav Černý (CZE) Beşiktaş Undisclosed [48]

Loans out

Date from Pos. Player To Date until Ref.
4 July 2025 FW  Jakub Kamiński (POL) 1. FC Köln End of season [49]
8 July 2025 DF  Nicolas Cozza (FRA) Nantes End of season [50]
10 July 2025 MF  Bartol Franjić (CRO) Venezia End of season [51]
22 August 2025 MF  Aster Vranckx (BEL) Sassuolo End of season [52]

References

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