How to Run a World Cup 2026 Sweepstake

Running a World Cup sweepstake is one of the best ways to get everyone in your office or group invested in the tournament — even people who don't normally watch football. This guide walks you through everything you need to know for the 2026 World Cup.

What is a World Cup sweepstake?

A sweepstake is a simple competition where each participant is randomly assigned a team. Whoever's team performs best in the tournament — usually whoever wins it — takes the prize pot.

It's completely luck-based, which is exactly what makes it fun. Your CEO could end up with a minnow while the intern gets Brazil.

What's different about World Cup 2026?

The 2026 World Cup is the biggest ever, with 48 teams taking part — up from 32 in previous tournaments. That's great news for sweepstakes: more teams means more participants can get a unique team.

The tournament runs from 11 June to 19 July 2026, hosted across the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Step 1 — Collect your participants

Decide who's in. Send a message to your office Slack, WhatsApp group or email chain and ask people to sign up. You don't need everyone to commit upfront — you can run the draw with however many people have joined by a set deadline.

Tip: Set a deadline of a day or two before the tournament starts so everyone has their team before the first match kicks off.

Step 2 — Decide on a prize pot

The simplest approach: everyone pays the same entry fee (£2, £5, £10 — whatever suits your group). The whole pot goes to the winner.

You can also split the pot — for example, 70% to whoever's team wins the tournament, 20% to the runner-up, 10% to the third-place team. This keeps more people engaged deeper into the tournament.

Step 3 — Run the draw

This is where our generator comes in. Head to the homepage, enter everyone's names (one per line), and click Generate draw. The tool uses cryptographic randomisation to assign teams fairly — no bias, no favourites.

With 48 teams and fewer than 48 participants, everyone gets at least one team. If you have more than 48 people, teams get shared between participants.

You can also use Share all 48 teams mode, which distributes every team evenly across participants — so if you have 12 people, everyone gets 4 teams each.

Step 4 — Share the results

Once generated, you have three options:

• Copy results — pastes the full draw as plain text, perfect for WhatsApp or Slack
• Share link — creates a shareable URL at /draw/[ref] that anyone can open to see the draw
• Download PDF — a clean, printable draw sheet you can pin to the office noticeboard

Step 5 — Track who's winning

As the tournament progresses, use our live leaderboard (available as an add-on) to automatically track points as matches are played. No manual updating required — it pulls live scores and calculates everyone's totals in real time.

Scoring suggestions

If you're running the leaderboard manually, here's a simple points system:

| Achievement | Points | |---|---| | Group stage win | 3 pts | | Group stage draw | 1 pt | | Reach Round of 32 | 5 pts | | Reach Round of 16 | 8 pts | | Reach Quarter-final | 12 pts | | Reach Semi-final | 18 pts | | Win the tournament | 25 pts |

Tips for a smooth sweepstake

• Run the draw live — do it over video call or in person so everyone can see it's fair
• Screenshot the results — share immediately after the draw so there's no dispute later
• Set clear rules upfront — especially around what happens if a team withdraws injured
• Keep it fun — the sweepstake is a reason to watch matches together, not just a lottery

Frequently asked questions

What if we have more people than teams? Enable "Allow shared teams" in the generator. Multiple participants share a team and split the prize if that team wins.

Can I re-run the draw? Yes — just generate a new draw. Each draw gets a unique reference code.

Is it legal? In the UK, workplace sweepstakes are generally considered lawful as long as they're run for entertainment, entry is optional, and there's no profit motive beyond the prize pot. Always check local rules if you're unsure.

What if someone joins late? You can run a mini draw for latecomers from the remaining teams, or assign them any team that wasn't taken.

Ready to get started? Generate your sweepstake now — it takes under a minute.