Ruthless Stuttgart beats Arminia Bielefeld 4-2 in German Cup final

BERLIN (AP) — Four mistakes, four goals.

Stuttgart ruthlessly capitalized on errors in Arminia Bielefeld’s defense to win the German Cup with a 4-2 victory in the final on Saturday.

Enzo Millot scored twice and Germany forwards Nick Woltemade and Deniz Undav got the others as Stuttgart claimed its fourth German Cup win and the first since 1997.

“We've written history today. The guys can be proud of what they delivered,” Stuttgart chairman Alexander Wehrle said. “There's no way we're going to bed tonight.”

Bielefeld, the third-division champion, was playing in the final for the first time as only the fourth representative from that division to ever reach German soccer’s end-of-season showpiece.

But there was no fairytale ending for the team’s American captain, Mael Corboz, after he helped it knock out defending champion Bayer Leverkusen in the semifinals and a host of Bundesliga clubs en route to the final.

Substitute Julian Kania scored a late consolation and Stuttgart's Josha Vagnoman conceded an own goal a minute after that to get the Bielefeld fans singing again before the end.

Both sets of supporters displayed huge choreographies before the match in front of 74,000 spectators at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, where they repeatedly ignored appeals to stop setting off pyrotechnics.

The Stuttgart players and coach Sebastian Hoeneß ran to their supporters after the final whistle to be feted with more flares and fireworks in front of masked ultras. A long line of police and stewards stood just behind the players, keeping a careful watch.

The cup win comes after Hoeneß led Stuttgart to second place in the Bundesliga last season. This season was complicated by Champions League participation. The team lost a club-record six home Bundesliga games in a row, but finished the season strongly with three straight wins.

“We always had the feeling that we were on the right path, even if the results didn't always go our way or weren't understandable,” Hoeneß said in the post-game press conference. “That's why it was important for us to stay cool and believe in ourselves, because we can really play well when we stay together. And then the results came, which helped.”

The coach was cut off from saying any more by his players bursting into the room and dousing him with beer. Hoeneß grabbed the trophy and went off to celebrate with them.

Hoeneß' cup-winning predecessor was Joachim Löw, who led Stuttgart to the 1997 title in his first job in senior management. Löw later achieved fame as Germany coach with the highlight a World Cup win in 2014.

Stuttgart was given a boost before the final when Germany midfielder Angelo Stiller returned after two weeks out with an ankle injury.

Stiller set up two goals as Stuttgart raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first half hour. All three goals came with Stuttgart pouncing on mistakes, with Stiller sending Woltemade on his way for the opener. The fourth also came after a mistake with Millot sealing the result with his second goal in the 66th.

Bielefeld’s supporters consoled themselves by lighting flares, while their counterparts used the pyrotechnics to celebrate.

Bielefeld next plays the Westphalia Cup final against fourth-tier side Sportfreunde Lotte on Thursday. The match was rescheduled because of the team’s participation in the national cup final.

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Stuttgart's head coach Sebastian Hoeness raises the trophy after his team won the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

VfB Stuttgart players celebrate after winning the trophy in the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Stuttgart's Atakan Karazor celebrates after winning the trophy in the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

VfB Stuttgart players celebrate after winning the trophy in the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Stuttgart's head coach Sebastian Hoeness, right, and Stuttgart's Maximilian Mittelstaedt celebrate after winning the trophy in the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

VfB Stuttgart supporters burn flares and wave flags during the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Stuttgart's Maximilian Mittelstaedt reacts during the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

VfB Stuttgart players celebrate after Stuttgart's Deniz Undav, centre, scored his side's third goal during the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

VfB Stuttgart players celebrate after Stuttgart's Deniz Undav, centre, scored his side's third goal during the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Stuttgart's Jeff Chabot heads the ball during the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence declined slightly this month as gas prices stayed high and inflation remained elevated, a sharp contrast to soaring stock prices hover near record levels.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped 0.7 points to 93.1 in May, the first decline after three months of gains. The measure hasn't fallen as much this year as other gauges of consumer attitudes, but it has been stuck at a low level since the pandemic. Before COVID-19, it regularly reached 130.

A separate gauge of consumer sentiment released last week by the University of Michigan fell to a record low this month. Soaring gas and food costs have worsened inflation that is outpacing the average growth in paychecks, reducing most Americans’ purchasing power. Americans have soured on President Trump’s economic policies, polls show, potentially creating problems for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

Consumer sentiment is mostly gloomy even as the economy is still growing and the unemployment rate has stayed low. Some economists argue that the gap reflects inequality in a “K-shaped” economy, with higher-income Americans benefitting from rising stock prices and still spending while lower-income households struggle.

Tuesday's consumer confidence survey showed that confidence grew among households with incomes at or above $100,000, while it fell for most others.

“The prospect of higher prices and faster inflation continues to loom over confidence readings with many households taking a more cautious approach to purchases this year,” Ben Ayers, Nationwide senior economist, said.

There were some positive signs, Ayers noted: Americans' expectations for growth six months in the future improved, potentially a sign they expect the Iran war to be over by then.

Still, Americans' outlook on the job market worsened slightly. The proportion of respondents who said jobs are “plentiful” dropped to 25.5%, the lowest in three years. At the same time, just 18.6% said jobs were “hard to get,” the smallest percentage since October. The findings reflect the “low-hire, low-fire” job market that has made it harder for those out of work to obtain new jobs.

Gas prices have soared to a nationwide average of $4.49 a gallon from $2.98 just before the war began at the end of February, and have been at or above $4.50 a gallon for nearly all of May.

This month, the Conference Board added special questions to its survey, which found rising prices have caused most Americans to change their spending habits. Two-thirds of respondents said they are cutting back spending in response to the increases, with most of those reducing overall purchases and delaying more expensive acquisitions.

Many consumers are also planning to economize on clothes, shoes, hobby items, and toys and games, the survey found.

Inflation jumped to 3.8% in April, the highest in three years and far above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. In addition to more expensive gas, grocery prices have also started rising more quickly, likely driven by higher shipping costs. Beef prices have also risen sharply, as drought and other factors have reduced cattle herds.

The higher prices are reducing Americans' average inflation-adjusted incomes. Average hourly earnings, adjusted for price changes, shrank in April from a year earlier for the first time in three years.

Other data also suggests consumers have grown more cautious amid rising prices. Adjusted for inflation, retail sales actually declined in April, after a solid increase in March.

And the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to a record-low 44.8 in May, its third straight decline, as a majority of respondents said rising prices were hurting their personal finances.

A motorist swipes a credit card at the pump to pay for gasoline at a gas station, Sunday, May 24, 2026, in Sheridan, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The per-gallon prices for the various grades of gasoline available at a gas station are displayed on a sign above the pumps, Sunday, May 24, 2026, in southeast Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)