How to fill out a World Cup 2026 bracket (and not get the Round of 32 wrong)

A 48-team bracket looks intimidating, but it breaks down into three simple steps. Here's how to fill one in without tripping over the new Round of 32.

Step 1: order every group

Start with the group stage. For each of the 12 groups, put the four teams in the order you think they'll finish. First and second place go straight through; third place might, and fourth is out.

Step 2: pick the eight best third-placed teams

You'll have 12 third-placed teams across the groups. Choose the eight you think are strong enough to sneak through. This is where most brackets go wrong — and where the official allocation decides who plays whom.

Step 3: play out the knockouts

From the Round of 32, pick a winner for every tie and follow it through the Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. Crown a champion, a runner-up and a third place — then share your bracket as an image and see if your friends agree.

Our predictor does the fiddly bits for you: it applies FIFA's official third-place allocation table, auto-clears picks that no longer make sense when you change an earlier result, and exports a clean shareable image of your whole bracket.