Small-town club Elversberg clinches Bundesliga promotion for the first time

BERLIN — Small-town club Elversberg clinched promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time on Sunday by finishing runner-up in Germany’s second division behind already promoted Schalke.

Early goals from Bambasé Conté and David Mokwa, then another from Mokwa, gave Elversberg a 3-0 win at home over last-place Preußen Münster, enough for the team to finish ahead of Paderborn on goal difference.

Elversberg will be the 59th club to play in the top division since the Bundesliga’s formation in 1963.

Three teams were level going into the final round, with both Hannover and Paderborn hoping for an unlikely favor from already relegated Münster against Elversberg, which had the better goal difference.

Hannover was on course to finish third for the playoff when it was leading Nuremberg 3-2, but Luka Lochoshvili scored late for the visitors to let Paderborn move above Hannover into third place with a 2-0 win at Darmstadt.

As a result, Paderborn will face Wolfsburg in a two-leg playoff to decide which plays in the Bundesliga next season.

PHOTOS: Small-town club Elversberg clinches Bundesliga promotion for the first time

Wolfsburg, which finished third from bottom in the Bundesliga on Saturday, will host the first leg of their playoff on Thursday.