The Guardian published an interactive World Cup bracketology simulator on June 4, 2026, giving soccer fans a digital tool to predict the outcome of all 104 matches of the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The simulator, hosted as a data-driven interactive on The Guardian’s website, presents users with the full draw of the 48-team, 12-group format. Users begin by dragging teams within each group into their predicted order of finish — first, second, third and fourth. The top two finishers in every group automatically qualify for the knockout rounds. The eight best-performing third-placed teams from across the 12 groups also advance, creating 32 teams in the round of 32.
The tool includes predetermined bracket routes for all 495 possible combinations of which eight third-placed teams qualify, factoring in their group of origin. After users set the group-stage results, they advance to a bracket-style knockout section covering the round of 32, round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final. Tapping or clicking on a match selects the winner and fills the next slot in the bracket.
The 2026 World Cup features an expanded format, moving from the 32-team structure used in 2022 in Qatar to 48 teams. The Guardian’s tool noted that the competition is structured so that “bigger” teams generally avoid each other in the early knockout rounds, and that all 48 teams have an incentive “to field their strongest side for every fixture.” The tool cited England as an example: finishing first, second, or third in their group leads to progressively tougher opponents in the first knockout round.
Once users have completed their bracket, the tool displays “Your winner” with options to share the prediction or download the bracket as an image.
The interactive was produced by editors James Dart, Marcus Christenson and Philip Cornwall, with design and development by Barry Ainslie, Georges Lebreton, Seán Clarke, Harry Fischer, Petter Nitter and Freddie Preece.