You don’t need to be an ardent soccer fan to enjoy the World Cup, which begins Sunday with host Qatar facing Ecuador.
Bracket pool
The World Cup begins with the group stage, with eight groups of four teams. Each team plays the other three teams in its group once. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout round, which takes the form of a traditional 16-team bracket.
You could wait for the knockout round to begin and simply have the players fill out that bracket, like during the NCAA basketball tournaments. But that eliminates the fun of the earlier games. Alternatively, you could incorporate the group stage games by having players predict the group winners and runners-up before the tournament begins, and then fill out their brackets from there. Those who correctly predict the advancing teams in the proper order of finish will have a far better chance of success in the bracket. Points could also be awarded for selecting the correct group winners and runners-up.
Dec. 3, 10 am
Group A 1st
Dec. 9, 10 am
Group B 2nd
Group C 1st
Group D 2nd
Dec. 13, 2 pm
Dec. 3, 2 pm
Dec. 5, 10 am
Group E 1st
Group F 2nd
Group G 1st
Dec. 10, 10 am
Group H 2nd
FINAL
Dec. 18, 10 am
Dec. 5, 2 pm
Dec. 4, 2 pm
Group B 1st
Dec. 9, 2 am
Group A 2nd
Group D 1st
Group C 2nd
Dec. 14, 2 pm
Dec. 4, 10 am
Dec. 6, 10 am
Group F 1st
Group E 2nd
Group H 1st
Dec. 10, 2 am
Group G 2nd
THIRD PLACE
Dec. 17, 10 am
Dec. 6, 2 pm
Dec. 3, 10 am
Group A 1st
Dec. 9, 10 am
Group B 2nd
Group C 1st
Group D 2nd
Dec. 13, 2 pm
Dec. 3, 2 pm
Dec. 5, 10 am
Group E 1st
Group F 2nd
Group G 1st
FINAL
Dec. 10, 10 am
Group H 2nd
Dec. 18, 10 am
Dec. 5, 2 pm
Dec. 4, 2 pm
Group B 1st
Dec. 9, 2 am
Group A 2nd
Group D 1st
Group C 2nd
Dec. 14, 2 pm
Dec. 4, 10 am
Dec. 6, 10 am
Group F 1st
Group E 2nd
THIRD PLACE
Dec. 17, 10 am
Group H 1st
Dec. 10, 2 am
Group G 2nd
Dec. 6, 2 pm
Dec. 3, 10 am
Dec. 4, 2 pm
Group A 1st
Group B 1st
Dec. 9, 10 am
Dec. 9, 2 pm
Group B 2nd
Group A 2nd
Group C 1st
Group D 1st
FINAL
Group D 2nd
Group C 2nd
Dec. 13, 2 pm
Dec. 14, 2 pm
Dec. 18, 10 am
Dec. 3, 2 pm
Dec. 4, 10 am
Dec. 5, 10 am
Dec. 6, 10 am
Group E 1st
Group F 1st
THIRD PLACE
Group F 2nd
Group E 2nd
Dec. 17, 10 am
Group G 1st
Group H 1st
Dec. 10, 10 am
Dec. 10, 2 pm
Group H 2nd
Group G 2nd
Dec. 5, 2 pm
Dec. 6, 2 pm
Sat., Dec. 3, 10 am
Sun., Dec. 4, 2 pm
Group A 1st
Group B 1st
Fri., Dec. 9, 10 am
Fri., Dec. 9, 2 pm
Group B 2nd
Group A 2nd
Group C 1st
Group D 1st
FINAL
Group D 2nd
Group C 2nd
Tue., Dec. 13, 2 pm
Sun., Dec. 18, 10 am
Wed., Dec. 14, 2 pm
Sat., Dec. 3, 2 pm
Sun., Dec. 4, 10 am
Mon., Dec. 5, 10 am
Tue., Dec. 6, 10 am
Group E 1st
Group F 1st
THIRD PLACE
Group F 2nd
Group E 2nd
Sat., Dec. 17, 10 am
Group G 1st
Group H 1st
Sat., Dec. 10, 10 am
Sat., Dec. 10, 2 pm
Group H 2nd
Group G 2nd
Mon., Dec. 5, 2 pm
Tue., Dec. 6, 2 pm
As a third (and probably best) option, you could pair a traditional bracket pool with a stage pool, in which participants don’t fill out the bracket until the group stage is over and the 16-team bracket is completed. Ask each participant to choose the winner and runner-up of each group; entries receive three points for correctly picking the winner or the runner-up of a group and one point for picking a team that advances to the knockout stage but in the wrong spot. For example, if you choose the Netherlands to win Group A and it comes through, you receive three points. If you pick the Netherlands to win Group A and it advances as the group’s runner-up, you get one point.
There are nearly endless variations. Some pools ask you to pick the full group stage standings and then award an additional point for every team slotted in the right position; if you pick Qatar to finish fourth in Group A and the host nation does, you’d get one point. Some pools of this style also require participants to pick every group stage game, with points awarded for correct selections. (And watch out for ties.)
In any case, group-stage points carry over to the more traditional bracket stage, where points are awarded in NCAA tournament fashion. (Four-eight-12-16, to give one example, for wins in the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final.)
Draft pool
Because the men’s World Cup includes 32 teams, this works best with either exactly four or exactly eight people. Each participant takes turns drafting a team until they’re all snapped up. Each win by one of your teams is worth two points, a draw is worth one point and a loss gets you nothing. The most points after the tournament ends is the winner.
Alternatively, you could award three points for wins, two points for a win in penalties, and one point for a loss in penalties or a draw. You could also award more points for wins in later rounds, or a bonus for selecting the champion. Some draft pools also award one point per goal scored, with bonus points for shutouts.
This Reddit thread from four years ago offers some more-involved variations on this type of pool.
Confidence pool
This type of pool starts by grouping each team based on its pretournament odds. For instance, favorites Brazil, France, Argentina, England and Spain are worth one point; Germany, Netherlands, Portugal and Belgium are worth two points; Denmark, Croatia and Uruguay are worth three points; and so on down the list of teams. You would have to determine the groups yourself; World Cup odds provide a starting point.
Each player selects five teams, and each team gets points for victories (and half-points for group stage draws) for every result based on their assigned value. In other words, correctly picking the high-value long shots leads to more points for surprising early results but might leave contestants without any remaining teams by the end of the tournament.
The points multiply for wins in the knockout rounds, and the player with the most points at the end of the tournament wins.
Survivor pool
Each participant picks one team per day, or maybe one team every two days. If that team loses, you’re out of the pool. A win or draw keeps you alive. Players can only pick a team once. The last one standing is the winner.
Who can run a World Cup pool for me?
There are plenty of paid services that will run your World Cup pool, with lots of options to vary the format and scoring, including Pooltracker, HostedPools, OfficeFootballPools, RunYourPool, and many others.