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How teams are distributed into groups in a football tournament

Where Group A and Group B come from, which teams land in each, and how to change the order.

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Written by Maab Saleem

Your teams are dealt into groups the moment you save the format. The Format tab shows you the result.

Before you start

Save a format first. A tournament with no format has no groups. Choosing one is covered in "Choosing a format for a football tournament".

Reading the board

  1. Open the tournament and select Format.

    The Format tab showing the Phases board, with a Group Phase card on the left and a Knockout Phase card on the right.

  2. Read the Group Phase card. Every group you asked for is there, and every team sits in one of them.

    The Group Phase card outlined, showing Group A and Group B with four teams each.

  3. Select Edit on a group to see how big it is. Number of teams is the size the format gave it.

    The Edit group dialog with the Number of teams field outlined, showing 4.

  4. Drag a team by the handle on the left of its row to change its order inside the group.

    A team row on the board with its drag handle outlined.

What you will see

Teams are dealt in the order you added them. The first four you added go into Group A, the next four into Group B, and so on.

Order matters later. The group standings decide who fills each knockout slot, and those slots are written as positions - 1st Group A, 2nd Group B. See "Brackets and knockout rounds in a football tournament".

If it does not work

  • There is only one group. You saved Round Robin, or you asked for one group. Change Number of groups on the format and save again.

  • A group has the wrong number of teams. Open Edit on the group and change Number of teams.

  • A team is in the wrong group. Remove it from the group it is in, then add it where you want it. Removing a team is on the team's own menu, not the group's.

  • You cannot see the board at all. Only the Owner and an Administrator open the Format tab. Everyone else is sent to the tournament's public page.

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