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Fewest matches, shortest day — 16 teams only need 15 matches. The drawback is that half your teams will travel only to play once and go home.
Choosing your tournament format
Start from the arithmetic: number of teams, pitches, hours of daylight and minutes per match. That tells you which formats are actually possible before you pick one. Running a season rather than a day? Read how to start a football league.
Group stage into knockout
The standard tournament format. Small round robin groups guarantee everyone three or four matches, then the top sides go into a knockout. Best balance of fairness and time.
Round robin
Everyone plays everyone. Fairest table, most matches, practical up to about six teams in a single day.
Double elimination
Nobody goes out on one bad result. More matches than a straight knockout, but far fewer than a round robin.
Handling registration
Collect team names, contacts, squad lists and any entry fee before the day of the tournament. Confirm every team in writing 48 hours ahead — this is when the no-shows surface and you can still adjust the bracket.
Building the bracket and schedule
Seed teams if you know their strength, so the strongest sides do not meet in the first round. Then work out timings: matches per pitch, match length and a gap between rounds for teams that just played. Plan ahead for potential delays. A long penalty shootout will easily put your tight schedule half an hour behind.
Score matches live
On the day, someone needs to record results as they finish so the bracket advances and the next round can be announced. Scoring in an app with brackets and live scoring rather than on paper means the bracket updates itself and nobody has to find the organiser to ask who they play next.
Keeping players and fans updated
Live standings and brackets that people can check on their phones remove most of the questions organisers spend the day answering. If you publish your tournament on Sofascore, families who could not travel can follow it live and get notified when matches start.