SCORING RULESKULIBIN WC26
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THE RULEBOOK

SCORING RULES

Every rule that determines points. No hidden math, no surprises.

GROUP STAGE (72 GAMES)

  • Exact final score5 pts
  • Correct result (W/D/L) + one team's goals4 pts
  • Correct result only (W/D/L)3 pts
  • Correct winner + correct goal difference (non-exact, non-draw)+1 pt
  • One team's goals right only1 pt
  • Everything wrong0 pts

Result and partial-goals points stack: predict the correct winner AND nail one team's goal count and you get 3 + 1 = 4 pts. The goal-difference bonus also stacks on top of a correct-winner pick (e.g. real 3–1, you pick 2–0 → 3 + 1 = 4 pts). Draws never earn the goal-difference bonus, even if your predicted draw matches the real draw's 0 goal difference.

KNOCKOUTS (32 GAMES)

Two buckets per round. The big bucket rewards just getting the right teams into the round — slot and opponent don't matter. The small bucket rewards getting the exact matchup right, with a further bonus for predicting the game's score.

  • Progression — per team that reaches this round2 pts × round multiplier
  • Pairing bonus — both teams of a matchup correct1 pt × round multiplier
  • Score layer — exact / result+partial / result / partial5 / 4 / 3 / 1 × round multiplier
  • Goal-difference bonus — correct winner + correct goal diff (non-exact, non-draw)+1 × round multiplier

Round multipliers:

  • Round of 32×2
  • Round of 16×3
  • Quarterfinals×4
  • Semifinals×5
  • Third-place playoff×5
  • Final×6

The pairing bonus and score layer only count when both teams in your bracket matchup match the real matchup at that slot. The goal-difference bonus follows the same draw exclusion as the group stage — knockout games decided on penalties count as draws (the regulation score is level) and therefore never earn the bonus.

CHAMPION PICK

  • Correct champion50 pts
  • Champion reached the final but lost15 pts
  • Champion eliminated earlier0 pts

Your champion is automatically set to whoever wins your predicted final — you can't pick a champion who isn't in your final.

WORKED EXAMPLES

Group game: you predicted 2–1, real result 2–1
Exact score → 5 pts.
Group game: you predicted 3–0, real result 2–0
Wrong score, right winner (3 pts) + away team's goals correct (1 pt) → 4 pts total. Result and partial stack.
Group game: you predicted 1–1, real result 0–0
Both draws → correct result → 3 pts. Goal difference matches (0 = 0) but draws never earn the diff bonus.
Group game: you predicted 2–0, real result 3–1
Wrong score, right winner (3 pts), goal difference matches (2 = 2) → +1 diff bonus → 4 pts.
QF: you predicted 2–0, real result 3–1
Inside a correctly-paired QF matchup: score layer = (result 3 + diff 1) × 4 = 16 pts, on top of pairing and progression.
SF decided on penalties: real 1–1 (Spain win on pens), you predicted 0–0 (Spain on pens)
Penalty shootout counts as a draw → no goal-difference bonus. The rest of the score layer is unaffected.
R16 round: 10 of your 16 R16 teams actually reach R16
Progression: 10 × 2 × 3 = 60 pts. If 7 of your 8 R16 matchups also match the real R16 matchups, add 7 × 1 × 3 = 21 pts pairing. If 2 of those 7 were exact scores and 3 were right-winners, add (2×5 + 3×3) × 3 = 57 pts score layer. Round total: 138 pts.
QF matchup: you placed Brazil vs France, real QF at that slot is Brazil vs Germany
Pairing missed — no pairing bonus, no score layer. Brazil still counts toward QF progression (2 × 4 = 8 pts). France only counts if France actually reaches the QF in some other slot.
Final: you predicted Spain vs France and it really is Spain vs France
Progression: 2 teams × 2 × 6 = 24 pts. Pairing bonus: 1 × 6 = 6 pts. If you also nailed the exact score, +5 × 6 = 30 pts. Plus champion bonus if your champion wins (50 pts) or just makes the final (15 pts).

LIVE SCORES

Real scores entered by the admin count toward the leaderboard immediately. There is no separate verification step. The admin can optionally Lock a result to mark it as finalized and prevent further edits. Spot a wrong score? Raise a dispute from your scorecard at any time.

TIES

There are no tie-breakers. Contestants with the same total points share a rank.

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