Regensburg, May 16, 2026, 16:06 CEST
- Energie Cottbus clinched a 1-0 win at Jahn Regensburg, locking in direct promotion and ending a 12-year absence from the 2. Bundesliga.
- Rot-Weiss Essen grabbed a stoppage-time goal at Ulm, clinching third place and landing the promotion-relegation playoff spot.
- MSV Duisburg settled for a 1-1 draw with Viktoria Cologne, and finished the day in fourth place.
Energie Cottbus secured promotion back to Germany’s second tier on Saturday, clinching a 1-0 win over Jahn Regensburg to wrap up their 3. Liga campaign in second, just behind champions VfL Osnabrück. Jannis Boziaris provided the decisive goal in the 28th minute. Late drama followed, but Marius Funk denied Florian Dietz from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
This time, the stakes were high. Cottbus started the final round clinging to a slim lead over MSV Duisburg and Rot-Weiss Essen. Ahead of kickoff, the German football federation made it clear: three clubs still in the race for that second automatic promotion spot. Four sides also in the mix for a relegation playoff—a two-legged battle with the 16th-placed 2. Bundesliga team.
Turns out, Cottbus took care of business on their own. The Lausitz side wrapped up with 72 points from 38 games—Osnabrück finished well ahead with 80. Essen posted 70, Duisburg settled for 68, and Hansa Rostock trailed with 67.
Essen grabbed the last remaining top spot. Uwe Koschinat’s team edged out SSV Ulm 3-2—Ulm already headed down—after Ben Vincent Hüning found the net in stoppage time. That goal nudged RWE up to third, bumping Duisburg out of the playoff picture.
Duisburg’s hopes for back-to-back promotions—up from the Regionalliga just last year—ended Saturday. A 1-1 draw at home against Viktoria Cologne left them short, especially after Essen’s late goal in Ulm sealed their fate.
Cottbus hasn’t played in the 2. Bundesliga since the 2013-14 season. The comeback looks even more dramatic considering the club dropped as far as the fourth tier in recent years—climbing back up to the second division in just three seasons after starting out in the Regionalliga.
Claus-Dieter “Pele” Wollitz, the coach, called the final hurdle a “50:50 game” before things got underway, Niederlausitz aktuell reported. He also mentioned that if promotion happened, it’d be one of those rare occasions in football when he’d actually feel “proud.” That’s a word, he noted, he almost never uses. NIEDERLAUSITZ aktuell
Cottbus showed up with a strong contingent—about 8,000 away fans packed into the sold-out Jahnstadion, joining a total crowd of 15,210, DPA reported. After the final whistle, supporters poured onto the pitch, ignoring pre-match warnings to stay off the playing surface.
The broader promotion outcome remains uncertain. Essen’s ascent isn’t guaranteed—they face a relegation playoff against whoever lands 16th in the 2. Bundesliga, a detail still pending the league’s final matchday. Those crucial fixtures are on the calendar for May 22 and May 26.
For Cottbus, attention quickly moves off the pitch and onto infrastructure and finances. Brandenburg’s state premier Dietmar Woidke called the promotion “a dream in red and white,” pledging that the state would back Energie stadium’s modernization. Cottbus mayor Tobias Schick pointed out the club’s achievement came despite a relatively modest budget and ongoing stadium hurdles. DIE WELT
