# 2021–22 3. Liga

The 2021–22 3. Liga was the 14th season of the 3. Liga. It was originally scheduled to start on 23 July 2021 and concluded on 14 May 2022; however, the opening match between VfL Osnabrück and MSV Duisburg had to be postponed after Duisburg was quarantined due to COVID-19 cases, delaying the season start by one day.
From this season onward, the German Football Association will allow clubs to place a sponsor logo on the back of their shirts.
The league fixtures were announced on 1 July 2021.

## Teams
### Team changes

Originally, SV Meppen was relegated from the 2020–21 3. Liga. However, KFC Uerdingen could not meet the licensing requirements, sparing Meppen from relegation.
| Promoted from 2020–21 Regionalliga | Relegated from 2020–21 2. Bundesliga | Promoted to 2021–22 2. Bundesliga | Relegated from 2020–21 3. Liga |
| Viktoria Berlin Borussia Dortmund II SC Freiburg II TSV Havelse | VfL Osnabrück Eintracht Braunschweig Würzburger Kickers | Dynamo Dresden Hansa Rostock FC Ingolstadt | KFC Uerdingen Bayern Munich II VfB Lübeck SpVgg Unterhaching |

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Viktoria Berlin | Berlin | Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Stadion$^1$ | 10,000 |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | Braunschweig | Eintracht-Stadion | 23,325 |
| Borussia Dortmund II | Dortmund | Stadion Rote Erde | 9,999 |
| MSV Duisburg | Duisburg | Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena | 31,500 |
| SC Freiburg II | Freiburg im Breisgau | Dreisamstadion$^2$ | 24,000 |
| Hallescher FC | Halle | Leuna-Chemie-Stadion | 15,057 |
| TSV Havelse | Hanover | HDI-Arena$^3$ | 49,200 |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Kaiserslautern | Fritz-Walter-Stadion | 49,780 |
| Viktoria Köln | Cologne | Sportpark Höhenberg | 10,001 |
| 1. FC Magdeburg | Magdeburg | MDCC-Arena | 27,500 |
| Waldhof Mannheim | Mannheim | Carl-Benz-Stadion | 25,667 |
| SV Meppen | Meppen | Hänsch-Arena | 16,500 |
| 1860 Munich | Munich | Grünwalder Stadion | 15,000 |
| Türkgücü München | Munich | Olympiastadion Grünwalder Stadion | 69,250 15,000 |
| VfL Osnabrück | Osnabrück | Stadion an der Bremer Brücke | 16,667 |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | Saarbrücken | Ludwigsparkstadion | 16,003 |
| SC Verl | Lotte Paderborn | Stadion am Lotter Kreuz Benteler-Arena$^4$ | 10,059 15,000 |
| Wehen Wiesbaden | Wiesbaden | BRITA-Arena | 12,250 |
| Würzburger Kickers | Würzburg | Flyeralarm Arena | 14,500 |
| FSV Zwickau | Zwickau | GGZ-Arena Zwickau | 10,049 |
$^1$ Viktoria Berlin will play their home matches at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Stadion since their home stadium, the Stadion Lichterfelde, did not meet 3. Liga standards. $^2$ SC Freiburg II moved to the Dreisamstadion after SC Freiburg moved to the Europa-Park Stadion, since their previous home stadium, the Möslestadion, did not meet 3. Liga standards. $^3$ TSV Havelse will play their home matches at the HDI-Arena since their home stadium, the Wilhelm-Langrehr-Stadion in Garbsen, did not meet 3. Liga standards. $^4$ SC Verl will play their home matches at the Stadion am Lotter Kreuz since their home stadium, the Sportclub Arena in Verl, did not meet 3. Liga standards. They will move to the Benteler-Arena for the last five home matches of the season.

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | Shirt sponsor | Shirt sponsor |
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Front | Sleeve | Back |
| Viktoria Berlin | Farat Toku | Christoph Menz | Capelli | | | |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | Michael Schiele | Jasmin Fejzić | Puma | Heycar | | |
| Borussia Dortmund II | Enrico Maaßen | Steffen Tigges | Puma | 1&1 Ionos | Opel | |
| MSV Duisburg | Torsten Ziegner | Moritz Stoppelkamp | Capelli | ZOXS | Rheinpower | |
| SC Freiburg II | Thomas Stamm | Johannes Flum | Nike | Schwarzwaldmilch | ROSE Bikes | |
| Hallescher FC | André Meyer | Jonas Nietfeld | Puma | sunmaker | Saalesparkasse | Hofmann Personal |
| TSV Havelse | Rüdiger Ziehl | Tobias Fölster | Nike | reifen.com | City of Garbsen | Stadtwerke Garbsen |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Dirk Schuster | Jean Zimmer | Nike | Allgäuer Latschenkiefer | Lotto Rheinland-Pfalz | Kemmler Kopier Systeme |
| Viktoria Köln | Olaf Janßen | Marcel Risse | Capelli | ETL | Wintec Autoglas | |
| 1. FC Magdeburg | Christian Titz | Tobias Müller | Uhlsport | Humanas | SWM Magdeburg | |
| Waldhof Mannheim | Patrick Glöckner | Marcel Seegert | Capelli | Suntat | Eichbaum | |
| SV Meppen | Rico Schmitt | Thilo Leugers | Nike | KiK xxl | Echt Emsland | |
| 1860 Munich | Michael Köllner | Stefan Lex | Nike | Die Bayerische | Bet3000 | Pangea Life |
| Türkgücü München | Andreas Heraf | Mërgim Mavraj | Capelli | Remitly | | |
| VfL Osnabrück | Daniel Scherning | Marc Heider | Puma | SO-TECH | Jopa | |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | Uwe Koschinat | Manuel Zeitz | Adidas | Victor's Group | Saarland-Sporttoto | Victor's Group |
| SC Verl | Michél Kniat | Mael Corboz | Joma | Beckhoff | EGE GmbH | |
| Wehen Wiesbaden | Markus Kauczinski | Sebastian Mrowca | Capelli | Brita | sunmaker | |
| Würzburger Kickers | Ralf Santelli | Christian Strohdiek | Jako | BVUK | | |
| FSV Zwickau | Joe Enochs | Johannes Brinkies | Puma | Omni Group | ATUS | WP Holding |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Exit date | Exit date | Position in table | Incoming | Incoming date | Incoming date | Ref. |
| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Announced on | Departed on | Position in table | Incoming | Announced on | Arrived on | Ref. |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | Lukas Kwasniok | End of contract | 5 February 2021 | 30 June 2021 | Pre-season | Uwe Koschinat | 6 April 2021 | 1 July 2021 | |
| SC Freiburg II | Christian Preußer | End of contract | 8 February 2021 | 30 June 2021 | Pre-season | Thomas Stamm | 31 March 2021 | 1 July 2021 | |
| Würzburger Kickers | Ralf Santelli / Sebastian Schuppan (interim) | End of caretaker spell | 2 April 2021 | 30 June 2021 | Pre-season | Torsten Ziegner | 24 May 2021 | 1 July 2021 | |
| Türkgücü München | Andreas Pummer (interim) | End of caretaker spell | 6 May 2021 | 30 June 2021 | Pre-season | Petr Ruman | 29 April 2021 | 1 July 2021 | |
| TSV Havelse | Jan Zimmermann | Signed for Hannover 96 | 10 May 2021 | 30 June 2021 | Pre-season | Rüdiger Ziehl | 28 June 2021 | 1 July 2021 | |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | Daniel Meyer | Sacked | 27 May 2021 | 30 June 2021 | Pre-season | Michael Schiele | 6 June 2021 | 1 July 2021 | |
| VfL Osnabrück | Markus Feldhoff | End of contract | 31 May 2021 | 30 June 2021 | Pre-season | Daniel Scherning | 7 June 2021 | 1 July 2021 | |
| Türkgücü München | Petr Ruman | Sacked | 20 September 2021 | 20 September 2021 | 10th | Peter Hyballa | 20 September 2021 | 20 September 2021 | |
| Würzburger Kickers | Torsten Ziegner | Sacked | 4 October 2021 | 4 October 2021 | 19th | Danny Schwarz | 13 October 2021 | 13 October 2021 | |
| MSV Duisburg | Pavel Dochev | Sacked | 7 October 2021 | 7 October 2021 | 17th | Uwe Schubert (interim) | 7 October 2021 | 7 October 2021 | |
| MSV Duisburg | Uwe Schubert (interim) | End of caretaker spell | 18 October 2021 | 18 October 2021 | 17th | Hagen Schmidt | 18 October 2021 | 18 October 2021 | |
| Wehen Wiesbaden | Rüdiger Rehm | Sacked | 25 October 2021 | 25 October 2021 | 9th | Mike Krannich/ Nils Döring (interim) | 25 October 2021 | 25 October 2021 | |
| Wehen Wiesbaden | Mike Krannich/ Nils Döring (interim) | End of caretaker spell | 8 November 2021 | 8 November 2021 | 7th | Markus Kauczinski | 8 November 2021 | 8 November 2021 | |
| Türkgücü München | Peter Hyballa | Sacked | 23 November 2021 | 23 November 2021 | 16th | Alper Kayabunar (interim) | 23 November 2021 | 23 November 2021 | |
| Hallescher FC | Florian Schnorrenberg | Sacked | 21 December 2021 | 21 December 2021 | 14th | André Meyer | 27 December 2021 | 27 December 2021 | |
| Türkgücü München | Alper Kayabunar (interim) | End of caretaker | 27 December 2021 | 27 December 2021 | 16th | Andreas Heraf | 27 December 2021 | 27 December 2021 | |
| Würzburger Kickers | Danny Schwarz | Sacked | 10 February 2022 | 10 February 2022 | 20th | Ralf Santelli | 10 February 2022 | 10 February 2022 | |
| SC Verl | Guerino Capretti | Sacked | 15 February 2022 | 15 February 2022 | 17th | Michél Kniat | 15 February 2022 | 15 February 2022 | |
| Viktoria Berlin | Benedetto Muzzicato | Sacked | 20 February 2022 | 20 February 2022 | 16th | Farat Toku | 3 March 2022 | 3 March 2022 | |
| MSV Duisburg | Hagen Schmidt | Sacked | 4 May 2022 | 4 May 2022 | 15th | Torsten Ziegner | 4 May 2022 | 4 May 2022 | |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Marco Antwerpen | Sacked | 10 May 2022 | 10 May 2022 | 3rd | Dirk Schuster | 10 May 2022 | 10 May 2022 | |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | 1. FC Magdeburg (C, P) | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 83 | 39 | +44 | 78 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga and qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 2 | Eintracht Braunschweig (P) | 36 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 61 | 36 | +25 | 64 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga and qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 3 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern (O, P) | 36 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 56 | 27 | +29 | 63 | Qualification for promotion play-offs and DFB-Pokal |
| 4 | 1860 Munich | 36 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 67 | 50 | +17 | 61 | Qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 5 | Waldhof Mannheim | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 58 | 40 | +18 | 60 | |
| 6 | VfL Osnabrück | 36 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 56 | 48 | +8 | 58 | |
| 7 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 36 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 53 | |
| 8 | Wehen Wiesbaden | 36 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 49 | 44 | +5 | 51 | |
| 9 | Borussia Dortmund II | 36 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 51 | 48 | +3 | 49 | |
| 10 | FSV Zwickau | 36 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 47 | |
| 11 | SC Freiburg II | 36 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 34 | 42 | −8 | 47 | |
| 12 | SV Meppen | 36 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 47 | 60 | −13 | 47 | |
| 13 | Viktoria Köln | 36 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 39 | 52 | −13 | 45 | |
| 14 | Hallescher FC | 36 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 46 | 48 | −2 | 43 | |
| 15 | MSV Duisburg | 36 | 13 | 3 | 20 | 46 | 71 | −25 | 42 | |
| 16 | SC Verl | 36 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 56 | 66 | −10 | 40 | |
| 17 | Viktoria Berlin (R) | 36 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 44 | 62 | −18 | 37 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 18 | Würzburger Kickers (R) | 36 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 34 | 59 | −25 | 30 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 19 | TSV Havelse (R) | 36 | 5 | 8 | 23 | 28 | 71 | −43 | 23 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 20 | Türkgücü München (R) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Results expunged |
* 1 2 Reserve teams are ineligible for promotion or DFB-Pokal qualification.
* ↑ Türkgücü München were deducted eleven points, nine after they filed for insolvency and two more for condition mistakes. On 24 March 2022, after the 31st matchday, Türkgücü München ceased to play for financial reasons. All their results were expunged. At the time, they were ranked 20th with 8 wins, 8 draws, 15 losses, 30–47 goals, and 21 points (after the deduction).

## Results

| Home \ Away | BER | BRA | DOR | DUI | FRE | HAL | HAV | KAI | KÖL | MAG | MAN | MEP | MUN | TÜR | OSN | SAA | VER | WIE | WÜR | ZWI |
| Viktoria Berlin | — | 0–6 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–4 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | 0–4 | — | 4–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Borussia Dortmund II | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| MSV Duisburg | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–5 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–6 | 2–0 | 3–6 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| SC Freiburg II | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–5 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Hallescher FC | 4–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–3 | 4–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| TSV Havelse | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–6 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | — | 4–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Viktoria Köln | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 5–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| 1. FC Magdeburg | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | — | 3–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 |
| Waldhof Mannheim | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 7–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 5–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| SV Meppen | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 2–4 | 1–3 |
| 1860 Munich | 1–1 | 2–2 | 6–3 | 3–2 | 6–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Türkgücü München | — | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | — | 0–3 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 |
| VfL Osnabrück | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–2 | 3–4 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| SC Verl | 3–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 5–3 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 4–5 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–4 | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Wehen Wiesbaden | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Würzburger Kickers | 3–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 |
| FSV Zwickau | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | — | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 7–0 | — |
* ↑ The MSV Duisburg v VfL Osnabrück match from 19 December 2021 was abandoned after 35 minutes and a score of 0–0 after an alleged racial insult by a spectator targeted at Aaron Opoku. The DFB Sports Court decided to replay the match, which took place on 2 February 2022 and finished with a score of 3–6.
* ↑ All of Türkgücü München's results were expunged.

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Marcel Bär | 1860 Munich | 21 |
| 2 | Barış Atik | 1. FC Magdeburg | 19 |
| 3 | Terrence Boyd | 1. FC Kaiserslautern Hallescher FC | 15 |
| 4 | Gustaf Nilsson | Wehen Wiesbaden | 14 |
| 4 | Luka Tankulic | SV Meppen | 14 |
| 6 | Michael Eberwein | Hallescher FC | 13 |
| 7 | Orhan Ademi | MSV Duisburg | 12 |
| 7 | Lion Lauberbach | Eintracht Braunschweig | 12 |
| 7 | Luca Schuler | 1. FC Magdeburg | 12 |
| 10 | Dominic Baumann | FSV Zwickau | 11 |
| 10 | Jason Ceka | 1. FC Magdeburg | 11 |
| 10 | Adriano Grimaldi | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 11 |
| 10 | Marc Heider | VfL Osnabrück | 11 |
| 10 | Dominik Martinović | Waldhof Mannheim | 11 |
| 10 | Lukas Petkov | SC Verl | 11 |
| 10 | Marc Schnatterer | Waldhof Mannheim | 11 |
| 10 | Vincent Vermeij | SC Freiburg II | 11 |

## Number of teams by state

| Position | State | Number of teams | Teams |
| 1 | Lower Saxony | 4 | Eintracht Braunschweig, TSV Havelse, SV Meppen and VfL Osnabrück |
| 1 | North Rhine-Westphalia | 4 | Borussia Dortmund II, MSV Duisburg, Viktoria Köln and SC Verl |
| 3 | Bavaria | 3 | 1860 Munich, Türkgücü München and Würzburger Kickers |
| 4 | Baden-Württemberg | 2 | Waldhof Mannheim and SC Freiburg II |
| 4 | Saxony-Anhalt | 2 | Hallescher FC and 1. FC Magdeburg |
| 5 | Berlin | 1 | Viktoria Berlin |
| 5 | Hesse | 1 | Wehen Wiesbaden |
| 5 | Rhineland-Palatinate | 1 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern |
| 5 | Saarland | 1 | 1. FC Saarbrücken |
| 5 | Saxony | 1 | FSV Zwickau |