Frequently asked questions

How does World Cup sweepstake scoring work?

Each person scores points from their drawn teams using classic football rules: 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss. Group stage and knockout matches count. Points are added together to rank participants on the live leaderboard.

What happens if someone has both teams in a match?

It can happen when the draw gives one person both sides in a fixture. The match feed will not show a head-to-head between two people — it is the same participant on both teams. Scoring still uses 3/1/0 for each team, and both teams' points count towards that person's total. If one of their teams wins, they get 3 points from the winner and 0 from the loser (3 overall). If it is a draw, they get 1 point from each team (2 overall). There is no rival to beat in that game — only points from their own two teams.

How are knockout stage matches scored?

Knockout matches use the same 3/1/0 scoring as the group stage. Scores come from football-data.org using the final full-time result, so a win after extra time or penalties still earns 3 points for the winner and 0 for the loser. Examples: a 2–1 win in 90 minutes gives 3 points; a match tied 1–1 at 90 but won 2–1 after extra time gives 3 points to the winner; a match decided on penalties gives 3 points to the shootout winner. We do not use 90-minute-only scores for knockouts.

How do I open my sweepstake standings page?

Run your draw on the World Cup 2026 sweepstake generator, then click “View my standings”. The page uses the same draw link state, so you can bookmark it and return throughout the tournament without signing in.

What if participant names were corrected after the draw?

If the organiser fixed a typo using Edit name on the generator, the updated link includes corrected names alongside the original draw. Open standings from that updated link — or use View my standings after editing — so the leaderboard shows the same names as the draw. An older link without the name corrections still works and shows the original names.

Where do match results come from?

Scores are fetched from football-data.org when configured and cached for about fifteen minutes to stay within the free API limit. Only full-time results update standings — we do not poll for live scores. A local results file is used as a fallback if the API is unavailable.

What is the wooden spoon?

The wooden spoon is a light-hearted name for whoever sits at the bottom of your sweepstake table — the participant with the fewest combined points from their teams.