The World Cup 2026 kicks off June 11 across the US, Mexico, and Canada. It's the perfect excuse to organize an office pool — even people who don't follow soccer get into the World Cup.
Here are five pool formats that work for any group, from hardcore soccer fans to people who couldn't name a single player.
1. Survivor Pool (Elimination Pool)
Best for: Groups of 10-50 who want sustained drama throughout the tournament
How it works: Each round, every player picks one team to win their match. If your team wins, you survive. If they lose or draw, you're eliminated. The catch: you can't use the same team twice.
Why people love it:
- Simple rules anyone can understand
- Creates genuine tension every match day
- Gets more exciting as the field narrows — by the knockout rounds, survivors are sweating every pick
- No soccer knowledge required — just pick teams that look strong
How to set it up: Golazo automates everything — create a pool, share the join code, and the app handles scoring, deadlines, and eliminations in real time.
Pro tip: Set a small buy-in ($10-20) to keep people engaged. Nothing motivates a deadline reminder like having skin in the game.
2. Bracket Challenge
Best for: Groups of any size who want a "set it and forget it" format
How it works: Before the tournament starts, everyone predicts the outcome of every match — group stage standings, knockout bracket winners, all the way to the Final. Points are awarded for correct predictions, with later rounds worth more.
Why people love it:
- Fill it out once, then watch the drama unfold for 5 weeks
- Everyone stays in the game until the Final — no elimination
- Great conversation starter: "You really have Canada beating Argentina?"
- The 48-team format means nobody gets a perfect bracket — upsets create wild swings
How to set it up: Golazo's bracket challenge handles the 12-group format and 32-team knockout bracket. Live scoring updates after every match.
Pro tip: Award bonus points for correctly predicting the champion, top scorer, or biggest upset. On Golazo, the tiebreaker is predicting the championship match total score — closest without going over wins.
3. Pick'em Pool (Confidence Pool)
Best for: Large groups (20+) with a mix of soccer knowledge levels
How it works: Each match day, players pick the winner (or draw) for every match. In a confidence version, you also rank your picks by confidence — your most confident pick is worth more points.
Why people love it:
- Daily engagement (new picks every match day)
- The confidence ranking adds strategic depth
- People with no soccer knowledge can still get lucky on individual match days
- Creates daily leaderboard drama
How to set it up: This format requires a platform that supports daily pick'em. Some platforms offer this for the World Cup; alternatively, use a spreadsheet for smaller groups. Golazo is adding pick'em for the World Cup — check back for availability.
4. Country Draft Pool
Best for: Small to mid-size groups (8-20) who want something unique
How it works: Hold a draft where each person draws (or selects) 3-4 countries. You earn points based on how your countries perform: advancing past the group stage, each knockout win, reaching the Final, winning the whole thing.
Why people love it:
- The draft event itself is a party — make it an occasion with food and drinks
- You root for "your" countries throughout the tournament, creating personal investment
- Simple to understand, fun to trash-talk about
- Works great as a secondary pool alongside a survivor or bracket
How to set it up: This works best as a manual draft with a shared spreadsheet for scoring. Draw country names from a hat for random assignment, or do a snake draft (1-2-3...3-2-1) for competitive groups. Award points like: 2 pts for advancing from groups, 3 pts per knockout win, 5 pts for reaching the Final, 10 pts for winning it all.
5. Square Grid Pool
Best for: Casual groups and watch parties, especially for the Final
How it works: Like a Super Bowl squares pool but for the World Cup Final (or any big match). Create a 10x10 grid, assign random numbers 0-9 to each axis (representing the last digit of each team's score). People buy squares, and whoever owns the square matching the score at halftime and full time wins.
Why people love it:
- Zero soccer knowledge required — it's pure luck
- Perfect for watch party events
- Low commitment (buy a square, show up, watch the match)
- Creates in-the-moment excitement as the score changes
How to set it up: Print or draw a 10x10 grid. Let people write their name in empty squares ($5-10 per square). After all squares are filled, randomly assign digits 0-9 to each axis. Pay out at halftime and full time.
Combining Formats
The best office World Cup experience uses more than one format:
- Bracket challenge (filled out before the tournament) keeps everyone invested for the whole 5 weeks
- Survivor pool adds daily/round-by-round drama on top of the bracket
- Squares pool for the Final gives one last event for the whole office, including people who didn't join the main pool
On Golazo, you can create separate survivor and bracket pools within the same group — your coworkers join both with the same account.
Getting Started
Whatever format you choose, here's the timeline:
- Now (April-May): Set up your pool and invite people
- Early June: Deadline for bracket predictions (before June 11 kickoff)
- June 11 - July 19: The tournament! 104 matches across 5 weeks
- July 19: World Cup Final — crown your pool champion
Don't wait until the last week. Giving people time to join and make their picks means higher participation and more fun.
Create your pool free on Golazo.