2023/24 Bundesliga 2 permutations: Who can be promoted? Who can be relegated?
Holstein Kiel and St. Pauli are promoted, Hamburg can no longer catch Fortuna Düsseldorf, and who will join Osnabrück in going down? Find out who needs what on the final day of the season in Germany's second division...
Predict the final matchday and see how they would impact the table
Promotion
The top two are now confirmed and St. Pauli will return to the Bundesliga, while Kiel will make the step up for the first time in their history.
There is still the matter of who will be Bundesliga 2 champions to settle. Pauli went top by a point after they beat Osnabrück, following Holstein's 1-1 draw with Düsseldorf.
It means Die Kiezkicker (66 points, +25 goal difference) will be champions if:
- They equal or better Kiel's result at Hannover when they visit Wehen Wiesbaden
The Storks (65 pts, +25 GD) can crown the greatest campaign in their modern history by finishing top if:
- They win at Hannover and Pauli fail to win in Wiesbaden
- They draw and Pauli lose
Watch: Pauli secured promotion with a 3-1 win over Osnabrück
Third place/play-off spot
Fourth-placed Hamburg's loss in Paderborn last Friday saw Düsseldorf assured of third place without kicking a ball. Fortuna will now play the team that finishes 16th in the Bundesliga (one of Cologne, Union Berlin, Mainz or Bochum) for a shot at the big time.
Read more about the promotion race here
Watch: Kiel's draw with Düsseldorf and subsequent promotion celebrations
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Safety
Going into the penultimate weekend, all teams from 13th down were still in danger. However, results on Matchday 33 have made the picture much clearer as Magdeburg (13th), Eintracht Braunschweig (14th) and Kaiserslautern (15) all secured survival and another season in Bundesliga 2.
Relegation
Osnabrück's Matchday 32 fixture against Schalke was postponed until the following Tuesday, with defeat meaning an immediate return to the 3. Liga a year after their promotion. They are six points adrift at the bottom and will finish in 18th place.
It is now a straight fight between Hansa Rostock in 17th (31 pts, -26 GD) and Wehen Wiesbaden in 16th (32 pts, -13 GD) as to who will go down automatically and who will have one more chance at salvation in the play-off against the team that comes third in 3. Liga (either Preußen Münster or Jahn Regensburg).
Rostock will climb to 16th if:
- They win at home to Paderborn and Wiesbaden fail to beat St. Pauli
- They draw and Wiesbaden lose by a margin that sees a 13-goal swing in Hansa's favour
Wiesbaden will hang onto the play-off spot if:
- They equal or better Rostock's result
- They lose and Rostock draw, without the defeat causing a 13-goal swing in goal difference
Read more about promotion and relegation in Germany
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