Single elimination bracket generator
Type the number of teams or paste your list in seed order. The single elimination bracket appears instantly, with byes for the top seeds when the count does not fill a bracket of 4, 8, 16 or 32. No sign-up needed.
Want teams to lose twice before they are out? Make a double elimination bracket
What is single elimination?
Lose one match and you are out. Winners move on round by round until the final. It is quick and needs few matches, so it suits many teams and little time.
When the count is not 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64, the bracket is rounded up and the top seeds get a bye through round 1. Seeds 1 and 2 sit in opposite halves, so they can only meet in the final.
Quick maths for matches and rounds
- Matches: n − 1, because every match knocks out exactly one team. With a third-place match, n. For example, 16 teams play 15 matches.
- Rounds: the smallest power of 2 that is at least n gives the bracket size, and its exponent the rounds. For example, 12 teams need 4 rounds (a bracket of 16).
- Byes: bracket size minus the number of teams. For example, 12 teams in a bracket of 16 get 4 byes.
Frequently asked questions
How many matches are in a 16-team single elimination bracket?
15 matches over 4 rounds: 8 in the round of 16, 4 quarterfinals, 2 semifinals and the final. A third-place match makes it 16.
How does a bracket work with an uneven number of teams?
The bracket is rounded up to the next size (8, 16, 32 and so on). The empty places become byes and go to the top seeds, who start in round 2. For example, 10 teams in a bracket of 16 get 6 byes, leaving 2 matches in round 1.
How should I seed the bracket?
List the strongest first. Seed 1 plays the weakest entrant, seed 2 the second weakest, and so on. Seeds 1 and 2 are in opposite halves, so they can only meet in the final, and seeds 1 to 4 cannot meet before the semifinals. With no ranking to go on, draw the order at random and paste it in.
Do I need a third-place match?
It depends on the event. The third-place match puts the two beaten semifinalists against each other to settle third and fourth. Without it, many events award a shared third place.
When should I pick double elimination instead?
When there is time and one bad match should not end a team's day. In double elimination a team has to lose twice to be out, but it takes almost twice the matches: 30 for 16 teams instead of 15.