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After a remarkable climb, Elversberg have started their debut Bundesliga season with two wins and now look forward to hosting Bayern Munich on Sunday. This is their story. Just over four years ago, Elversberg secured top spot in the Regionalliga Südwest, one of the fourth-tier leagues in Germany. As the name suggests, they had been playing in a regional league comprising teams from the south-west of the country. They have come a long way since and this Sunday will welcome 35-time German champions and six-time European champions Bayern Munich to the Waldstadion an der Kaiserlinde, currently a 10,000-capacity ground that’s due to reach 15,000 when renovation work is completed. By then, the stadium will be able to fit every single person from the small municipality of Spiesen-Elversberg, slightly north-east of Saarbrücken, with a population of just 13,000. Elversberg managed a second successive promotion in 2022-23, reaching the 2. Bundesliga for the first time in their history. They could have made it to the Bundesliga earlier than they did but were agonisingly beaten 4-3 on aggregate by Heidenheim in the 2024-25 promotion play-off. They made up for it a year later, though, finishing as runners-up behind Schalke, ahead of third-place Paderborn on goal difference to earn automatic promotion. It was going to be a big step up, though, and when the fixture list came out, seeing their first two games would be against two of the biggest clubs in Germany may have been exciting and intimidating in equal measure. Elversberg’s first ever Bundesliga game was against Bayer Leverkusen, who won the Meisterschale only two years ago. If they were intimidated, though, the new boys didn’t show it. They raced into a 2-0 lead after just nine minutes with goals from Lukas Petkov and Cole Campbell. David Mokwa added a third just after half-time, and Elversberg were in dreamland. Of course, being the top flight, things weren’t going to be quite that simple. Patrik Schick pulled one back, and Christian Kofane made it a nervy end with another in stoppage time, but the hosts held on to record their first Bundesliga win. If that game was dramatic, what was to follow in their first away game at Borussia Mönchengladbach was like something out of a movie. After 56 minutes at Borussia-Park, Elversberg trailed 3-1. This seemed more like it, the debutants really finding out just how difficult the Bundesliga is for newbies, and getting a lesson in what it takes at the top. Then, goals from Maurice Krattenmacher and Felix Keidel levelled things up, before, remarkably, Krattenmacher won it for the visitors in stoppage time. Elversberg became only the sixth Bundesliga team (excluding the inaugural 1963-64 campaign) and just the second since the turn of the century to win their first two Bundesliga matches ever. In fact, they are one of just four teams in the Bundesliga to maintain a 100% record after two games; they even sit above mighty Bayern Munich in the table after the champions drew 0-0 at Schalke last weekend. However, on Sunday, Vincent Kompany’s men visit Elversberg, and those feelings of excitement and trepidation may well reach their peak. These are moments to be savoured for the club, though, having achieved astonishing things to get here. At the start of the 2022-23 season, Elversberg sat just inside the top 2,000 in the Opta Power Rankings, our system which ranks over 13,000 men’s teams across the globe. To show the extent of their growth since, they are now 127th in the world following their win at Gladbach, ahead of teams like Anderlecht and Fiorentina. Beat Bayern (ranked second in the world) on Sunday, and they will rocket even further up the rankings, but what kind of opponent can the champions expect? Like many stories in recent times of underdog clubs rising up the divisions, Elversberg have built their way up by finding young gems, even if just temporarily. Nick Woltemade spent the 2022-23 on loan there from Werder Bremen; Fisnik Asllani was on loan in 2024-25 before making an impact at Hoffenheim; and Eintracht’s newest star, Younes Ebnoutalib, was a sensation at Elversberg in the first half of last season before finding his way to Frankfurt. Ebnoutalib scored 12 goals in 17 league games before moving in January, but Elversberg kept up their momentum without him. Some might consider Elversberg overachievers, but last season they deserved their promotion, almost exactly matching their impressive xG for and xG against totals. They scored the most goals in the 2. Bundesliga (64) from the second-highest xG (64.8), and conceded the second fewest (39) from the second-lowest xG against (39.5). As you can see from the below comparison to other 2. Bundesliga teams last season, their playing style was fairly middle of the road. Their direct speed upfield was below the league average, but their passes per sequence was pretty much bang on the average. They may not always be particularly direct in their play – Elversberg attempted the fewest long passes in the second tier last season (1,537) – but they do still like to get the ball forward. Only Magdeburg (991) made more progressive passes than Elversberg (979) in the 2. Bundesliga in 2025-26, while no team could match their 29 successful through balls. They are also handy from set-pieces. Only Darmstadt (12) scored more than Elversberg’s 10 goals from corners in the 2. Bundesliga last season, while only three teams conceded fewer than their four against from corners. Head coach Vincent Wagner – who will be banned from the touchline for Sunday’s game with Bayern after receiving two yellow cards in the win at Gladbach – arrived in June 2025, and while Elversberg’s trajectory was already pointing the right way, the former Hoffenheim reserves coach was the one to get them to the promised land. At the time of his appointment, the club’s revered sporting director Ole Book – who has since left for Borussia Dortmund – said of Wagner: “We extensively analysed Vincent Wagner, his footballing style and his personality. “With everything he brings to the table, he fits in very well with us. He combines technical expertise with creative approaches and a bold style of play that we like to see in Elversberg. Vincent will not only continue our current path, but also enrich and develop it with new energy.” He did just that, getting the club promoted in his first season, but he’s not finished there, and the 12 goals seen across their first two Bundesliga outings is not a coincidence. Wagner’s approach is to be optimistic and exciting. “I’d rather lose 4-0 courageously than just sit back and end up losing 1-0,” he recently told the Bundesliga website. “Both the Elversberg philosophy and my own are rooted in the joy of playing. I believe the world is dark enough as it is these days, there’s so much news that isn’t exactly pleasant. I believe we try to play bold, joyful football, knowing full well that it can’t always work out, but I do believe that this attitude fosters much greater development.” That attitude, of course, means they do concede. Despite two wins, they have already allowed five goals in the Bundesliga, and indeed, they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 14 away league games across all divisions. But their approach also means goals at the other end. Elversberg’s seven goals is a new Bundesliga record for a promoted team after the first two games of a season. Despite a focus on youth development, they do have a relatively balanced squad. The average age of players used across the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal this season is 25 years and 248 days. Youngsters like Campbell, Mokwa and Francis Onyeka have thrived, but they’ve also been aided by experienced figures such as Maximilian Rohr, Jan Gyamarah and Luca Schnellbacher. Schnellbacher has been at the club since 2020, all the way from the regional leagues to the top league, as has goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof, who joined in 2021, so they have a mix of the old and new. The signing of Campbell from Borussia Dortmund and Onyeka on loan from Leverkusen this summer were seen as particular coups. One notable aspect of Elversberg is that they tend to share the workload. Despite being the 2. Bundesliga’s top scorers last season, none of their players featured in the nine top scorers in the division. Lukas Petkov top scored with 13. It is, of course, early days. With 32 games still to go this season, and the next being against a Bayern side determined to put their disappointing draw from last week behind them, the skies around Elversberg might not always be this bright. But as Wagner said, while it might not always work out, there is at least joy to be had in the efforts. Spiesen-Elversberg is a relatively quiet part of Germany, but their football club is ready to make a lot of noise now they’ve arrived in the big time. Enjoy this? Add Opta Analyst as a preferred source by clicking here. Enjoy this? 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