LIGUE 1 POOL
Two season-long games for France's top flight. Run a survivor pool — pick one club a journée, a draw sends you home — or pick'em, calling 5 of the 9 fixtures for a pot that rolls over. 18 clubs, 34 journées.
TWO WAYS TO PLAY LIGUE 1
A Ligue 1 pool on Golazo is a season-long game over the 2026-27 French top division — either a survivor pool where you pick one of the 18 clubs to win each journée until one bad pick knocks you out, or pick'em where you call 5 of the 9 fixtures a journée for a rolling pot.
In the survivor pool — the same format known as an eliminator, knockout, or Last Man Standing — you back one club to win each journée. Win and you advance; draw or lose and you're out. You can never pick the same club twice until you've used all 18, and the last player alive takes the pot. There's no overtime in league soccer, so in the standard rules a draw eliminates you.
In pick'em, nobody is eliminated. Because Ligue 1 has 18 clubs, each journée is 9 matches — you choose 5 of them and predict each result. A perfect card of 5 wins the pot; if nobody sweeps, it rolls over and next journée there's more on the line.
Ligue 1 is its own puzzle. With 18 clubs and 34 journées — France dropped from 20 teams in 2023 — the slate is tighter than England or Spain, so survivor players run out of safe clubs faster and pick'em cards leave less room to hide. Paris usually leads, but Marseille, Monaco, and Lille make sure the favorites don't run away with it.
Survivor Pool — How It Works
Pick One Club Per Journée
From that journée's nine fixtures, back one of the 18 clubs to WIN. You can change your mind until the first kickoff.
Win and You Advance
Your club takes three points, you take another journée of survival.
Lose or Draw and You're Out
No overtime, no second chances. A draw counts as a loss unless your commissioner enabled draws-survive.
Every Club Only Once
Used clubs are off your board — until you've burned all 18, when the 18-team slate resets (commissioner option).
Miss the Deadline, Take the L
No pick when the journée locks counts as a loss. Reminders by email and push keep you ahead of it.
Last Standing Takes the Pot
Outlast the pool and it's yours. If everyone left falls in the same journée, the survivors share it.
Pick'em — How It Works
Pick 5 of the 9 Fixtures
18 clubs means 9 matches a journée. Choose any 5 and call each result: Home, Draw, or Away.
Picks Lock at First Kickoff
Edit your slate as much as you like until the journée's first match kicks off. Then it's locked.
All 5 Correct Wins the Pot
Sweep your five and the journée's pot is yours. Multiple sweepers split it evenly.
Nobody Wins? It Rolls Over
Unclaimed pots carry into the next journée. Rollovers stack until someone finally sweeps.
No Eliminations
Miss a journée and you're back in the next one. Every journée is a fresh shot at the pot.
34 Journées of Chances
From the August opener to the final day in May, every journée is a fresh pot — no dead weeks.
Survivor vs Pick'em
Golazo runs both formats for Ligue 1. Plenty of groups run one of each — the drama peaks in different places.
| Survivor | Pick'em | |
|---|---|---|
| Picks per journée | 1 club to win | 5 of the 9 fixtures (Home/Draw/Away) |
| Bad journée costs you | Everything — you're eliminated | Nothing — back next journée |
| Draws | The trapdoor (unless draws-survive is on) | A pick like any other — and a weapon |
| The pot | One pot for the last standing | Weekly, rolls over when unclaimed |
| Season shape | 34 journées, 18-club slate resets after all 18 | 34 journées, 9 matches each |
| Best for | Slow-burn tension and sudden death | Weekly action all season long |
Commissioner Tools
Running a 34-journée pool by spreadsheet is a part-time job. Golazo automates the grunt work — scoring nine matches a journée, tracking eliminations or the rollover — and leaves the commissioner the fun parts.
Payment & Pot Tracking
See who's paid into the pot at a glance — including stacked pick'em rollovers. Golazo never holds the money; commissioners collect and pay out.
Automated Reminders
Day-before and last-call reminders by email and push before every journée deadline. Nobody gets knocked out by forgetfulness.
Live Scoring
Results sync from the real matches. Eliminations, sweeps, splits, and rollovers post automatically — draws and postponements handled.
Rule Options
Survivor or pick'em, draws-survive, slate reset on/off, late join, rebuys — set your pool's personality at creation and the rules enforce themselves.
Free for pools with up to 5 members; larger pools pay a small hosting fee that grows only as your pool grows. Details on the pricing page. The app works in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese.
Start Anytime in 2026-27
The 2026-27 Ligue 1 season kicks off around August 21, 2026 and runs through late May 2027 — 34 journées of French football. Pools can be created and joined at any point in the season, so a pool starting at journée 10 works exactly like one starting at journée 1.
Ligue 1 Pool FAQ
START YOUR LIGUE 1 POOL
Create your pool in under two minutes, pick survivor or pick'em, send one invite code, and play 34 journées of French football with your group.