The 2026 World Cup will be very different from previous tournaments.

Instead of the familiar 32-team format, the tournament expands to 48 teams, with 12 groups and a new Round of 32. The top two teams from each group will advance, along with the best third-placed teams.

That makes the bracket harder to follow than before.

In the old format, once you knew the group winners and runners-up, the knockout path was mostly clear. In the new format, the bracket also depends on which third-placed teams qualify across all groups.

I built a simple interactive tool to make the new format easier to understand:

https://bracket2026.com

You can predict group standings, generate the Round of 32, continue through the knockout rounds, and share or export your completed bracket.

It is mainly for football fans, office pools, sports communities, and anyone curious about the new 48-team World Cup format.