BayArena is the Bayer Leverkusen football team’s home stadium. (Photo London UK | stock.adobe.com)
It’s Friday game night and the two primary routes into my neighborhood are closed to traffic and packed with busses carrying fans from outside of town. Lucky for me, I biked to work, though my route through the forest is full of people in red and white slowly, drunkenly shuffling up hill. I ding my bell, and they slump off to the side, making way for my commute home.
When we rented our house in the Betzenberg neighborhood of Kaiserslautern, we did not fully grasp how much living near the local football stadium would affect our lives. We’ve grown accustomed to the pre-game road closures and post-game chaos with hordes of excited people who, thankfully, take the path of least resistance and stumble downhill into town.
The FC Kaiserslautern football team plays in Fritz Walter stadium on the Betzenberg. (uslatar | stock.adobe.com)
We can interpret the various cheering sounds and fireworks that waft over the neighborhood and can predict the hooliganism of visiting teams based on the number of paddy wagons and police in riot gear based at the nearby roundabout. It has been a (mostly) fun immersion into German football culture, surrounded by some of the country’s fiercest fans.
You don’t need to be stationed in Germany very long to know that Europe’s number one sport will affect you in one way or another. Whether you’ve unknowingly boarded a train full of fans, run into traffic or not been able to find a decent hotel room on a game weekend, it’s important to understand that in Germany, Fußball is a way of life.
Fans are devoted, and if you are from a big college town or an NFL or NBA city in the States then you can grasp just how much life revolves around the sport for true fanatics.
German football fans are dedicated, taking the Duetsch Bahn to games and flocking to matches. (hanohiki | 123rf.com)
The Bundesliga
Germany’s professional soccer league, the Bundesliga, is one of Europe’s top leagues with teams and players receiving numerous international top honors. Germany’s fans are known for their team commitment, too, attending matches in any weather.
Teams are operated by a football club, which must hold the majority voting rights according to the 50+1 rule. This means that the publicly owned clubs run by invested fans are the primary owners and private corporations or individuals cannot take over. This important German distinction keeps the clubs local, ticket costs low and garners a dedicated fan culture.
Bundesliga teams are primarily operated by publicy-owned football clubs, creating devoted fans who are invested in the games. (VITALII KLIUIEV | 123rf.com)
There are 18 teams in the top tier of the Bundesliga, representing cities across Germany. Interestingly, early regulations within the league limited an individual city to having only a single team in the top league; the rule was phased out, but its legacy means that the league has teams from geographically diverse areas, devout local fans and few local rivalries.
The Bundesliga season runs from August to May. Each team plays each other twice yearly: once at a home match and again at an away match. This means there are 34 games in a season. Teams earn 3 points for a win, 2 for a tie and 0 for losing; the team with the most points is declared the current champion.
There are 34 matches for Bundesliga teams in a standard season; in addition they will play German Cup matches. (VITALII KLIUIEV | 123rf.com)
Running parallel to the Bundesliga season, teams also participate in the German Cup (DFB-Pokal) tournament, which is a single-elimination style series with semi-final matches held this year on April 21-22 and a final on May 23.
The top teams from both the Bundesliga and German Cup qualify to compete in the Union of European Football Associations (EUFA) leagues during the next season. EUFA matches occur throughout the season but are typically on weeknights to not compete with local football.
The Germany Cup trophy (VITALII KLIUIEV | stock.adobe.com)
For the 2025-26 season, Germany is represented by Dortmund, Bayern, Leverkusen and Frankfurt in the Champions League and Freiburg and Stuttgart in the Europa League.
At the end of the season, the bottom two Bundesliga teams are relegated to the lower 2 Bundesliga tier, while the top two second-tier teams get to move up. A third spot is also up for grabs in a relegation play off that pits the 16th ranked team against the third-ranked team from 2 Bundesliga. A final professional tier, 3 Liga, has 20 teams with the potential for promotion.
Teams with lowest accumulated points risk their position in the first tier of the Bundesliga, while the highest-ranked teams in lower tiers will move up. (VITALII KLIUIEV | 123rf.com)
It’s important to know that football clubs affiliated with the Bundesliga don’t only provide professional teams. Below the 3 Liga, the Regionalliga has semi-professional players from 90 teams competing in five regions. The German league system continues to offer lower and more local tiers for state and county leagues.
Football clubs across the country have teams and academies for children, amateurs and semi-professionals in addition to the big well-known competitive pro teams. So, when the neighbor’s kid tells you they play for FCK, they probably earned a spot in the U9 (Under 9s) on a competitive team whose players grow into amateurs that feed the pro team, so they have every right to brag.
Football clubs affiliated with Bundesliga teams host non-professional and teams in addition to football academies. (ShDrohnenFly | stock.adobe.com)
What about the FIFA World Cup™?
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup is an international competition. Germany has now qualified for the World Cup 21 times with their inclusion in the 2026 series. Germany’s Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB), which oversees the Bundesliga, assembles a national team from top players on German teams to participate.
World Cup matches always occur in the summer, outside of the regular football season. In 2026, matches begin on June 11 and the final is held on July 19 in New York. Canada, Mexico and the USA are hosting the World Cup with matches held in 16 different cities.
This year, the FIFA World Cup™ will take place in host cities across North America. (Nattawit | stock.adobe.com)
Your local team
Spangdahlem Air Base
FSV Salmrohr is a tier 5 team who play in the Salmtal Stadium. It is also just under two hours north to see matches played by FC Köln.
FC Köln plays in the RheinEnergie Stadium. (nmann77 | stock.adobe.com )
USAG Ansbach & USAG Bavaria
Both the Greuther Fürth and FC Nürnberg are 2 Bundesliga teams located within striking distance of Ansbach, Grafenwöhr and Vilseck.
FC Nürnberg play in the Max-Morlock Stadium. (nmann77 | stock.adobe.com)
USAG Rheinland Pfalz & Ramstein Air Base
FC Kaiserslautern is a 2 Bundesliga team playing in Fritz-Walter Stadium, or the Betzenberg.
FC Kaiserslautern plays in the Fritz-Walter Stadium in the Betzenberg area of town. (VGV | stock.adobe.com)
USAG Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart is a Bundesliga team playing at the MHP Arena, or the Neckarstadion.
Vfb Stuttgart plays at the MHP Arena. (StockMarketVisuals | stock.adobe.com)
USAG Wiesbaden
FSV Mainz 05 is your local Bundesliga team playing in the Mewa Arena.
The FSV Mainz 05 teams plays in the Mewa Arena. (Bastian Kienitz | 123rf.com)