SC Freiburg


Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg, is a German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bundesliga in 2016.
Between 1954 and 2021, Freiburg's stadium was the Dreisamstadion; the club moved to the newly built Europa-Park Stadion in 2021.
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History

Early history

The club traces its origins to a pair of clubs founded in 1904: Freiburger Fußballverein 04 was organised in March of that year; FC Schwalbe Freiburg just two months later. Both clubs underwent name changes, with Schwalbe becoming FC Mars in 1905, Mars becoming Union Freiburg in 1906, and FV 04 Freiburg becoming Sportverein Freiburg 04 in 1909. Three years later, SV and Union formed Sportclub Freiburg, at the same time incorporating the griffin head.
In 1918, after World War I, SC Freiburg entered a temporary arrangement with Freiburger FC to be able to field a full side called KSG Freiburg. The next year, SC Freiburg associated themselves with FT 1844 Freiburg as that club's football department, until 1928 when they left to enter into a stadium-sharing arrangement with PSV Freiburg 1924 that lasted until 1930 and the failure of PSV. SC Freiburg then started again with FT 1844 Freiburg in 1938. The club played first in the Bezirksliga Baden in 1928, then in the Gauliga Baden, from which they were relegated in 1934.
At the end of World War II, Allied occupation authorities disbanded most existing organizations in Germany, including football and sports clubs. The clubs reconstituted themselves after about a year, but were required to take on new names in an attempt to disassociate them from Nazis. SC Freiburg was therefore briefly known as VfL Freiburg. By 1950, French-occupation authorities allowed the clubs to reclaim their old identities. Finally, in 1952, SC Freiburg left FT Freiburg behind again.
Through the 1930s, SC Freiburg played in the Bezirkliga, in the Gauliga Baden, winning local titles. After World War II, they resumed playing in the Amateurliga Südbaden.

The Finke era with ten Bundesliga seasons (1991–2007)

SC Freiburg were promoted to the 2. Bundesliga in 1978–79, which they would compete in for a decade-and-a-half before making the breakthrough to the top-flight Bundesliga in 1993–94 under the management of Volker Finke. In their first Bundesliga season, Freiburg narrowly avoided relegation. They made a third-place finish in their second season at the top level, finishing third, just three points behind champions Borussia Dortmund. It was at this time that they were first nicknamed Breisgau-Brasilianer, due to their attractive style of play.
The club's reached the UEFA Cup in 1995 and 2001.
Freiburg's first Bundesliga relegation was in 1997 after they finished in 17th position. While they have been relegated four times since first making the Bundesliga, they have thrice won immediate promotion back to the top league. It was the first time since 1992 that Freiburg played in the 2. Bundesliga for two consecutive seasons.
Freiburg finished the 2006–07 season in fourth place in the 2. Bundesliga, missing out on the third automatic-promotion spot on goal difference to MSV Duisburg, although they won 12 of their last 16 league games. They were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal in the second round by VfL Wolfsburg on 24 October 2006.
On 20 May 2007, Volker Finke resigned as the club's coach after 16 years in the job. He was succeeded by Robin Dutt, who himself left the club for Bayer Leverkusen in 2011.
On 10 May 2009, Freiburg secured promotion into the Bundesliga once again, beating TuS Koblenz in an away game 5–2.

Streich era

In the 2011–12 season, a coaching change by appointing Christian Streich, with the club finishing 12th. Under Christian Streich, the 2012–13 Bundesliga season saw the club finish in fifth place, their best league standing since 1994–95. The fifth-place finish secured a position in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League. Had Freiburg defeated Schalke 04 on the final matchday of the season, Freiburg would have advanced further in the league table against Schalke and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in club history. The 1–2 defeat to Schalke, however, saw Schalke secure fourth place in the league and qualify for the tournament instead. During the 2012–13 season, Freiburg also advanced to the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal for the first time in the club's history, but lost to local rivals VfB Stuttgart 1–2, and missed the chance to play Bayern Munich in the 2013 [DFB-Pokal Final|final].
In the 2014–15 season, after six years in the top flight, Freiburg was relegated to the 2. Bundesliga by a single point after a final-day defeat at Hannover 96. This was despite beating Bayern Munich in the second-last game. In the following season, however, the club earned its fifth promotion to the Bundesliga, with two matches to spare. The first season back in the Bundesliga saw them end seventh. This saw Freiburg qualify for the Europa League, as German cupwinners Borussia Dortmund were already qualified for the Champions League. The side were eliminated in the third qualification round against NK Domžale from Slovenia. Freiburg stayed in the top flight, finishing 15th.
In the 2021–22 season Freiburg reached the final of the DFB-Pokal for the first time. In the league Freiburg finished sixth to qualify to the next season's Europa League, where they reached the round of 16. In the following season, they finished fifth in the league to achieve another direct qualification to the Europa League group stage, despite being in the Champions League spots most of the season; however, two consecutive losses against rivals RB Leipzig and Union Berlin had them drop down in the league table with two games remaining. In the DFB-Pokal of the same season, defeated Bayern Munich 2–1 in the quarter-finals, in an away match for the first time in their history, before losing in the semi-finals at home 1–5 to RB Leipzig.

Post-Streich years

In March 2024, it was announced that Streich's assistant coach, Julian Schuster, would take over as head coach of the club. During the 2024–25 season, Freiburg reached the Champions League spots, climbing to fourth place after a crucial away win against Wolfsburg on matchday 31. However, a 3–1 home defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt on the final matchday saw them drop to fifth place and Europa League qualification, narrowly missing out on the Champions League for the fifth time following 2001, 2013, 2022, and 2023.

Reserve team

The club's reserve team, formerly the SC Freiburg Amateure, now SC Freiburg II, has, for the most part of its history played in the lower amateur leagues. It made a three-season appearance in the tier four Verbandsliga Südbaden from 1983 to 1986, but then took until 1994 to return to this league. In 1998 the team won promotion to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg after a league championship in the Verbandsliga. Freiburg II spent the next ten seasons at this level as an upper table side before another league championship took the team to the Regionalliga Süd. After four seasons at this league the team became part of the new Regionalliga Südwest in 2012. After a seventh place in its first season in the league the team finished runner-up in 2013–14.
A South Baden Cup win in 2001 qualified it for the first round of the 2001–02 DFB-Pokal, the German Cup, where it lost to Schalke 04.

Stadium

SC Freiburg formerly played its home games at the Dreisamstadion, named after the Dreisam River which flows through Freiburg. Because of sponsorship agreements, the stadium was known as the Schwarzwald-Stadion. The stadium has an approximate capacity of 24,000 spectators, and was built in 1953. Forty years later, then manager Volker Finke began an initiative to transform the Dreisamstadion into Germany's first solar powered football stadium. There are solar modules on the north, south, and main tribunes. These panels generate 250,000 kWh of energy per year.
The new Europa-Park Stadion designed by, was completed in October 2021. Located in the west of the city in a part of the city called Brühl — immediately to the west of Freiburg Airport — it has a capacity of 34,700.

Sponsorship

In April 2022, the team announced their sponsorship with car retailer Cazoo starting in July 2022. The Cazoo brand is visible on the front of the new jerseys as the team's main sponsor. In addition to the Bundesliga professionals, Cazoo appeared as shirt sponsor and advertising partner of the second team of SC Freiburg in the third division and as co-sponsor of the Freiburg Football School, and became visible at all matches of the SC junior teams. Cazoo also became a co-sponsor and sleeve sponsor of SC Freiburg's Bundesliga women.

UEFA competitions

Matches

SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHomeAwayAggregate
1995–96UEFA CupFirst round Slavia Prague1–20–01–2
2001–02UEFA CupFirst round Matador Púchov2–10–02–1
2001–02UEFA CupSecond round St. Gallen0–14–14–2
2001–02UEFA CupThird round Feyenoord2–20–12–3
2013–14UEFA Europa LeagueGroup H Sevilla0–20–23rd
2013–14UEFA Europa LeagueGroup H Estoril1–10–03rd
2013–14UEFA Europa LeagueGroup H Slovan Liberec2–22–13rd
2017–18UEFA Europa LeagueThird qualifying round Domžale1–00–21–2
2022–23UEFA Europa LeagueGroup G Qarabağ2–11–11st
2022–23UEFA Europa LeagueGroup G Olympiacos1–13–01st
2022–23UEFA Europa LeagueGroup G Nantes2–04–01st
2022–23UEFA Europa LeagueRound of 16 Juventus0–20–10–3
2023–24UEFA Europa LeagueGroup A Olympiacos5–03–22nd
2023–24UEFA Europa LeagueGroup A West Ham United1–20–22nd
2023–24UEFA Europa LeagueGroup A TSC5–03–12nd
2023–24UEFA Europa LeagueKnockout round play-offs Lens3–2 0–03–2
2023–24UEFA Europa LeagueRound of 16 West Ham United1–00–51–5
2025–26UEFA Europa LeagueLeague phase Basel2–17th
2025–26UEFA Europa LeagueLeague phase Bologna1–17th
2025–26UEFA Europa LeagueLeague phase Utrecht2–07th
2025–26UEFA Europa LeagueLeague phase Nice3–17th
2025–26UEFA Europa LeagueLeague phase Viktoria Plzeň0–07th
2025–26UEFA Europa LeagueLeague phase Red Bull Salzburg1–07th
2025–26UEFA Europa LeagueLeague phase Maccabi Tel Aviv1–07th
2025–26UEFA Europa LeagueLeague phase Lille0–17th
2025–26UEFA Europa LeagueRound of 16TBD

Overall record

CompetitionWin %

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Club records in UEFA competitions

Club records

Statistics correct as of 6 April 2024.Most 1. Bundesliga goals scored: 69 – Nils Petersen 19 May 2023

Most appearances

  • Players marked in bold are still playing for the club.
RankPlayerPositionPeriodAppearances
1

Top goalscorers

  • Players marked in bold are still playing for the club.
RankPlayerPositionPeriodGoalsGames
1

Honours

League

Cup

Youth

;LeagueGerman Under 19 championship
;CupGerman Under-19 Cup
  • *Winners: 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2018

Under-21 International

Lev Yashin Cup
  • *Winners: 2011
‡ Won by reserve team.

Selected notable former players

This list of former players includes those who received international caps while playing for the team, made significant contributions to the team in terms of appearances or goals while playing for the team, or who made significant contributions to the sport either before they played for the team, or after they left. It is not complete or all inclusive, and additions and refinements will continue to be made over time.

Head coaches

Coaches of the club since 1946:

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:

SC Freiburg II

;Key
↑ Promoted↓ Relegated

Notable chairmen