How many teams does each person get in a World Cup sweepstake?

Divide the number of teams by the number of people. With 48 teams and 16 people, everyone gets three. When it doesn't divide exactly, some people get one extra team, chosen at random.

Do I have to update the scores myself?

Not for linked football tournaments. Scores and knockouts update automatically, and you can override anything that looks wrong.

How to run a World Cup or Euros sweepstake

4 min read

Big football tournaments are the classic office sweepstake, and on SweepSquad they mostly run themselves.

Setting it up

Use New competition, then either pick the tournament from Featured events or go to Find by sport → Football and search for it. Choose Group stage, then knockout as the format if it isn't set for you.

Linked tournaments fill in the teams for you, usually with seeds. If the draw for the real tournament hasn't happened yet, you'll see Field pending and the teams arrive on their own once they're announced.

The draw

A 32-team tournament split between 10 people gives everyone three teams, with two people getting a fourth. A 48-team World Cup between 16 people is exactly three each. The pots make sure everyone has a mix of favourites and outsiders.

Schedule the draw for before the opening match and put it on the big screen. Switch on Live page link first, then schedule it on the Draw tab and every member gets an invitation to watch.

During the tournament

Once it kicks off, there's very little for you to do:

Scores update live on the Live tab and the public page.
When the group stage finishes, we check the final tables before knocking teams out, so there can be a short gap after the last group game.
In the knockout rounds, teams are knocked out automatically as results come in, and anyone holding them is emailed.
You can still override any result on the Results tab if something looks wrong, or press Report a sync issue on the teams tab and we'll take a look.

Extras worth switching on

Pre-match emails — in Overview, turn on "Send players a daily email listing their fixtures". Members get a short morning email on the days their teams play. Anyone who'd rather not can be muted on the Members tab.

Round summaries — press Send round summary on the Results tab after each round to email everyone the standings.

Points

The defaults double each round: 1 point for going out in the groups, up to 32 for the winner. You can change them with Points per round on the Results tab. More on points.

Common questions

Related guides

How the sweepstake draw works: pots, seeds and the live reveal

What makes the draw fair, instant versus scheduled draws, and how to put on a live reveal.

The live leaderboard and your public sweepstake page

The difference between your Live tab and the public page, what members can see, and how to share the link.

Entering results and scoring points

Automatic versus hand-entered results, marking competitors out, choosing a winner, and setting points per round.

What emails do my members get?

Every email your members might receive, what triggers it, and which ones you choose to send.

Still stuck? Contact us