VfL Wolfsburg suffered their first defeat of the season on 12 September 2026 against FC St. Pauli. Joel Chima Fujita scored the only goal of the match in the 88th minute to secure a 1-0 win for Hamburg at Millerntor Stadium. As a result, Wolfsburg remains on eight points from four games in fourth place in the 2. Bundesliga, while St. Pauli moves up to eighth and claims their first victory of the season.
The opening exchanges belonged to the Wolfsburg visitors, who created early chances through Metcalfe and Ceesay. However, Lars Ritzka was shown a yellow card in the fourth minute for St. Pauli, followed by Cleiton’s caution in the twelfth for Wolfsburg. In the 27th minute, Ceesay missed a golden opportunity after failing to capitalize on a defensive error by Zielinski. Despite ten shots from Hamburg and six from Wolfsburg, the first half ended goalless.
After the break, both managers made frequent changes. In the 65th minute, Wolfsburg substituted Bence Dardai for Muhammed Damar and Jonas Adjei for Cleiton. St. Pauli responded by bringing on Adam Dzwigala for Ritzka in the 70th minute and Martijn Kaars for Niang in the 74th minute. Wolfsburg then introduced Yannick Gerhardt for Shiogai and Maximilian Arnold for Svanberg. Coach Tobias Strobl received a yellow card in the 78th minute for dissent.
In the 82nd minute, Alessio Besio replaced Alexander Bernhardsson for Wolfsburg, while St. Pauli made two further substitutions in stoppage time: Taichi Hara for Ceesay and Samuel Klein for Metcalfe. Shortly afterwards, Fujita met a cross from the half-space and finished from eight yards to make it 1-0. Wolfsburg pushed for an equaliser but could not find a way past the home defence before the final whistle.
St. Pauli head coach Marcel Rapp praised his team’s performance afterward, stating the win came from consistent pressing. Wolfsburg coach Tobias Strobl said: „We did not put in enough today to win.“ Fujita himself stated simply: „I scored the goal that brought the victory.“
With this result, Wolfsburg remains five points behind league leaders 1. FC Nürnberg and now has eight points and a goal difference of +4 after scoring ten and conceding six goals this season. The last meeting also ended in a 1-0 win for St. Pauli, while Wolfsburg previously drew 4-4 with Energie Cottbus and lost 2-5 at Karlsruher SC.
Up next for Wolfsburg is a home fixture against SV Darmstadt 98 on 18 September 2026, who currently sit 14th in the table. Fans can check the upcoming schedule on our fixtures page and view the squad list via squad.
