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.

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. until 1928 when they left to enter into a stadium-sharing arrangement with PSV (Polizeisportverein) 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.

260px|thumb|Historical chart of Freiburg league performance

Through the 1930s, SC Freiburg played in the Bezirkliga (II), in the Gauliga Baden (I), winning local titles. After World War II, they resumed playing in the Amateurliga Südbaden (III).

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. In 2001 they reached the UEFA Cup for a second time, where they were knocked out by Feyenoord.

Freiburg's first Bundesliga relegation was in 1997 after they finished in 17th position.

On 10 May 2009, Freiburg secured promotion into the Bundesliga once again, beating TuS Koblenz in an away game 5–2. 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 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. In Schuster's second season, the club reached the Europa League final, the first European final in the club's history. In the final in Istanbul, they however lost 3-0 to English Aston Villa.

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

thumb|right|Dreisamstadion interior in 2011

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 HPP Architekten, 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

{| class="wikitable"

! Season

! Competition

! Round

! Opponent

! Home

! Away

! Aggregate

| 1995–96

| UEFA Cup

| First round

| Slavia Prague

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 1–2

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 0–0

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 1–2

| rowspan="3"| 2001–02

| rowspan="3"| UEFA Cup

| First round

| Matador Púchov

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;" | 2–1

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 0–0

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;" | 2–1

| Second round

| St. Gallen

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–1

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;" | 4–1

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;" | 4–2

| Third round

| Feyenoord

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 2–2

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–1

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 2–3

| rowspan="3"| 2013–14

| rowspan="3"| UEFA Europa League

| rowspan="3"| Group H

| Sevilla

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–2

| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 3rd

| Estoril

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 1–1

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 0–0

| Slovan Liberec

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 2–2

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;" | 2–1

| 2017–18

| UEFA Europa League

| Third qualifying round

| Domžale

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;" | 1–0

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–2

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 1–2

| rowspan="4"| 2022–23

| rowspan="4"| UEFA Europa League

| rowspan="3"| Group G

| Qarabağ

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;" | 2–1

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 1–1

| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;"| 1st

| Olympiacos

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 1–1

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;" | 3–0

| Nantes

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;" | 2–0

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;" | 4–0

| Round of 16

| Juventus

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–2

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–1

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–3

| rowspan="5"| 2023–24

| rowspan="5"| UEFA Europa League

| rowspan="3"| Group A

| Olympiacos

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;" | 5–0

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;" | 3–2

| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;"| 2nd

| West Ham United

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 1–2

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–2

| TSC

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;" | 5–0

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;" | 3–1

| Knockout round play-offs

| Lens

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;"| 3–2

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 0–0

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;"| 3–2

| Round of 16

| West Ham United

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;"| 1–0

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–5

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 1–5

| rowspan="12"| 2025–26

| rowspan="12"| UEFA Europa League

| rowspan="8"| League phase

| Basel

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;" | 2–1

| rowspan="8" style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;"| 7th

| Bologna

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 1–1

| Utrecht

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;" | 2–0

| Nice

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;" | 3–1

| Viktoria Plzeň

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffd;"| 0–0

| Red Bull Salzburg

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;" | 1–0

| Maccabi Tel Aviv

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;" | 1–0

| Lille

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–1

| Round of 16

| Genk

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;"| 5–1

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 0–1

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;"| 5–2

| Quarter-finals

| Celta Vigo

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;"| 3–0

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;"| 3–1

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;"| 6–1

| Semi-finals

| Braga

| style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;"| 3–1

| style="text-align:center; background:#fdd;"| 1–2

| style="text-align:center;background:#dfd;"| 4–3

| Final

| Aston Villa

| colspan=3 style="text-align:center; background:silver;"|0–3 (N)

Overall record

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"

! Competition

! Win %

|align=left|

|- class="sortbottom"

Club records in UEFA competitions

Biggest win in UEFA competition:
9 November 2023, Freiburg 5–0 TSC, at Freiburg
30 November 2023, Freiburg 5–0 Olympiacos, at Freiburg
Biggest defeat in UEFA competition:
14 March 2024, West Ham United 5–0 Freiburg, at London
Club appearances in UEFA Europa League: 7
Player with most UEFA appearances: Matthias Ginter – 37 appearances
Top scorer in UEFA club competitions: Vincenzo Grifo – 11 goals

Club records

Statistics correct as of 8 May 2026.

Most 1. Bundesliga goals scored: 72 – Vincenzo Grifo 8 May 2026
Highest transfer fee paid: €10 million for Baptiste Santamaria
Highest transfer fee received: €21.1 million for Çağlar Söyüncü
Youngest goalscorer: Matthias Ginter – 18 years, 2 days
Player who has scored the most against club: Claudio Pizarro – 14 goals in 17 matches
Biggest home win: 6–0 – against Rot-Weiß Erfurt on 24 August 1991
Biggest 1. Bundesliga home win: 5–0 – against Hansa Rostock on 17 September 1999, against VfL Bochum on 9 December 2000 and against SV Werder Bremen on 21 February 2025
Biggest away win: 6–0 – against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 5 December 2021
Biggest 1. Bundesliga away win: 6–0 – against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 5 December 2021
Biggest home loss: 0–6 – against Bayern Munich on 16 December 2003 and against Werder Bremen on 4 December 2004 and 21 November 2009
Biggest 1. Bundesliga home loss: 0–6 – against Bayern Munich on 16 December 2003 and against Werder Bremen on 4 December 2004 and 21 November 2009
Biggest away loss: 0–7 – against Bayern Munich on 10 September 2011
Biggest 1. Bundesliga away loss: 0–7 – against Bayern Munich on 10 September 2011

Honours

League

2. Bundesliga (II)
Winners: 1992–93,
Regionalliga Südwest (IV)
Winners: 2020–21‡
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (V)
Winners: 2008‡, 2017‡
Amateurliga Südbaden (III)
Winners: 1965, 1968, 1978
Verbandsliga Südbaden (V)
Winners: 1998‡

Cup

South Baden Cup (Tiers III–VII)
Winners: 1975, 1978, 2001‡
Runners-up: 2005‡
DFB-Pokal
Runners-up: 2021–22
Under 19 Bundesliga South/Southwest
Winners: 2005–06, 2008–09

;Cup

German Under-19 Cup
Winners: 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2018

Under-21 International

Lev Yashin Cup
Winners: 2011

‡ Won by reserve team.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

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.

Altin Rraklli
Rodolfo Esteban Cardoso
Andreas Ibertsberger
Zlatan Bajramović
Mohammadou Idrissou
Rolf-Christel Guié-Mien
Austin Berry
Damir Burić
Nikola Jurčević
Michael Lumb
Alexander Iashvili
Levan Kobiashvili
Dennis Aogo
Martin Braun
Michael Frontzeck
Richard Golz
Jörg Heinrich
Andreas Hinkel
Sebastian Kehl
Ralf Kohl
Joachim Löw
Stefan Müller
Sascha Riether
Jörg Schmadtke
Karl-Heinz Schulz
Martin Spanring
Uwe Spies
Axel Sundermann
Jens Todt
Uwe Wassmer
Marco Weißhaupt
Günther Wienhold
Tobias Willi
Andreas Zeyer
Ferydoon Zandi
Cha Du-ri
Roda Antar
Youssef Mohamad
Soumaila Coulibaly
Boubacar Diarra
Harry Decheiver
Papiss Cissé
Souleyman Sané
Miran Pavlin
Alain Sutter
Zoubeir Baya
Mehdi Ben Slimane
Adel Sellimi
Çağlar Söyüncü
Paul Caligiuri

Club staff

{| class="wikitable"

!Position

!Name

|Head coach

| Julian Schuster

|Assistant coach

| Florian Bruns

|Assistant coach analysis

| Franz-Georg Wieland

|Goalkeeping coach

| Michael Müller

|Fitness coach

| Daniel Wolf Maximilian Kessler

|Individual coach

| Felix Roth

|Team manager

| Tobias Schätzle

|Performance analyst

| Heiko Sander

|Data analyst

| Leon Krämer

|Team doctor

| Dr. Jochen Gruber PD Dr. Helge Eberbach Dr. Dr. Markus Wenning Prof. Dr. Torben Pottgießer

|Physiotherapeut / Sportphysiotherapeut

| Florian Mack

|Massage therapist / Sports physiotherapist

| Uwe Vetter

|Physiotherapist

| Markus Behrens Torge Schwarz

|Rehabilitation trainer

| Matthias Rosa

|Equipment manager

| Max Beckmann Josef Friedrich

|Bus driver

| Stefan Spohn

Head coaches

Coaches of the club since 1946:

thumb|right|200px|Volker Finke, former coach of SCF and longest serving coach in German football history

Andreas Munkert (1946–49)
Arthur Mattes (1949–50)
Andreas Munkert (1950–53) (second time)
Willi Hornung (1953–55)
Kurt Mannschott (1956–58)
(1960–63)
Hans Faber (1963–64)
Hans Diehl (1964–69)
Edgar Heilbrunner (1969–72)
Manfred Brief (1 July 1972 – 30 September 1978)
Heinz Baas (30 Sep 1978 – 30 June 1979)
Norbert Wagner (1 July 1979 – 24 January 1980)
Jupp Becker (1 July 1980 – 24 January 1981)
Horst Zick (25 Jan 1981 – 30 June 1981)
Lutz Hangartner (1 July 1981 – 30 June 1982)
Werner Olk (1 July 1982 – 30 June 1983)
Fritz Fuchs (1 July 1983 – 30 June 1984)
Antun Rudinski (1 July 1984 – 1 January 1986)
Jupp Becker (25 Jan 1986 – 22 March 1986) (second time)
Horst Zick (23 March 1986 – 30 June 1986) (second time)
Jörg Berger (1 July 1986 – 17 December 1988)
Fritz Fuchs (1 Jan 1989 – 8 April 1989) (second time)
Uwe Ehret (9 April 1989 – 30 June 1989)
Lorenz-Günther Köstner (1 July 1989 – 26 August 1989)
Uwe Ehret (27 Aug 1989 – 26 November 1989) (second time)
Bernd Hoß (1 Dec 1989 – 30 June 1990)
Eckhard Krautzun (1 July 1990 – 30 June 1991)
Volker Finke (1 July 1991 – 20 May 2007)
Robin Dutt (June 2007 –30 June 2011)
Marcus Sorg (1 July 2011 – 29 December 2011)
Christian Streich (29 Dec 2011 –18 Mar 2024)
Julian Schuster (22 Mar 2024 –)

Women's section

Recent seasons

right|thumb|400px

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

{| class="wikitable"

|- style="text-align:center; background:#dfdfdf;"

| Season

| Division

| Tier

| Position

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 1999–2000

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| rowspan=3| I

| 12th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2000–01

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 6th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2001–02

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| style="background:#ffcccc"| 16th↓

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2002–03

| style="text-align:left;"| 2. Bundesliga

| II

| style="background:#ddffdd"| 1st↑

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2003–04

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| rowspan=2| I

| 13th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2004–05

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| style="background:#ffcccc"| 18th↓

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2005–06

| style="text-align:left;"| 2. Bundesliga

| rowspan=4| II

| 4th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2006–07

| style="text-align:left;"| 2. Bundesliga

| 4th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2007–08

| style="text-align:left;"| 2. Bundesliga

| 5th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2008–09

| style="text-align:left;"| 2. Bundesliga

| style="background:#ddffdd"| 1st↑

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2009–10

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| rowspan=6| I

| 14th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2010–11

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 9th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2011–12

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 12th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2012–13

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 5th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2013–14

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 14th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2014–15

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| style="background:#ffcccc"| 17th↓

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2015–16

| style="text-align:left;"| 2. Bundesliga

| II

| style="background:#ddffdd"| 1st↑

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2016–17

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| rowspan=11|I

| 7th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2017–18

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 15th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2018–19

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 13th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2019–20

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 8th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2020–21

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 10th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2021–22

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 6th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2022–23

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 5th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2023–24

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 10th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2024–25

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 5th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2025–26

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

| 7th

|- style="text-align:center;"

| 2026–27

| style="text-align:left;"| Bundesliga

SC Freiburg II

With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. In 2012, the number of Regionalligas was increased from three to five with all Regionalliga Süd clubs except the Bavarian ones entering the new Regionalliga Südwest.

;Key

{|class="wikitable" align="center"

| style="background:#ddffdd"| ↑ Promoted

| style="background:#ffcccc"| ↓ Relegated

Notable chairmen

Achim Stocker † (1972–2009)

References

External links

SC Freiburg at Weltfussball.de