Quarter finals and play-offs per 16 teams: every team plays to the end
In a large tournament you want every team to play meaningful matches right to the end. Not just
the champion: the team in 17th or 35th place also wants to know where it stands. With the schedule
Groups, quarter finals and third place play-off per 16 teams, the teams are divided
into leagues of 16 after the group stage. Within each league, every position is played for.
MyTournament.info has extended this schedule for numbers of teams that do not add up exactly to 16,
32, 48 or 64. The last league then automatically gets a format that suits the number of teams left.
A graphical view has also been added, showing the complete schedule at a glance.
From group stage to leagues
The tournament starts with a regular group stage. The final standings decide in which league a
team continues. The highest-ranked teams go into League A, the next sixteen into League B, and so
on. With 32 teams there are two leagues, with 48 teams three and with 64 teams four. This way,
teams in the second stage play opponents with a similar ranking.
The split is based on group position. That can be a fixed position, for example
No. 2 Group C. If not all teams with the same group position fit into the same league,
their mutual ranking is used. Best no. 2 (3) then means the third-best runner-up across
all groups. MyTournament.info chooses the seeding method automatically; after generating the
schedule you can change it for each group position.
A full league: 16 teams, 16 positions
In a league of 16 teams, the placement matches start with eight round-of-16 matches. Winners play
on for the highest positions, losers continue in the consolation play-offs. After four rounds the
complete ranking from 1st to 16th place is settled. Every team therefore plays four placement
matches, whether it wins or loses its first match.
The variants: what if the last league is smaller?
Not every tournament has a multiple of 16 teams. With 41 teams, for example, there are two full
leagues and a third league of 9 teams. For that last league, MyTournament.info automatically
chooses a suitable format:
- 1 team: the remaining team plays no more placement matches and finishes last.
- 2 teams: one final.
- 3 teams: one group in which each team plays the others.
- 4 teams: one round robin in which each team plays three matches.
- 5 teams: a group of 3 and a group of 2 teams, followed by placement finals.
- 6 teams: two groups of 3 teams, followed by placement finals.
- 7 teams: the four highest-ranked teams play semi-finals and finals; the other three play a group.
- 8 teams: quarter finals and play-offs per 8 teams.
- 9 teams: three groups of 3 teams, followed by three new placement groups.
- 10 to 15 teams: quarter finals and play-offs for the top eight teams, supplemented with matches for the other teams, so that their final ranking is determined as well.
Example: 41 teams
With 41 teams, the best 32 play the full quarter finals and play-offs in League A and League B. The
nine remaining teams form League C. They are divided into three groups based on their mutual
ranking: group 1 gets teams 1, 5 and 9, group 2 teams 2, 6 and 7, and group 3 teams 3, 4 and 8.
After that, the three group winners play for places 1–3, the three runners-up for places
4–6 and the three third-placed teams for places 7–9. Every team in League C thus plays
four matches, just as many as the teams in the full leagues.
See this example in the graphical view:
41 teams in 6 groups.
See the schedule before you use it
A graphical view tells you so much more than a compact line of text:
you see straight away where every team ends up.
On the page Groups, quarter finals and third place play-off per 16 teams
you choose the number of teams and groups and immediately see the complete structure: the split
into leagues, all final rounds, the placement matches and the total number of matches. Lines show
where winners and losers go next. The demo supports 16 to 64 teams; in MyTournament.info itself,
tournaments of up to 190 teams are possible.
A few starting points:
Your own names for the leagues
By default the leagues are called League A, League B and League C. You can change these names, for
example to Champions League, Europa League and Conference League in football, or to Cup, Plate,
Bowl and Shield in rugby. The chosen names also appear in the match schedule and on the visitor
pages.
Want to use this schedule for your own tournament? Register for free
or log in, create a tournament and choose the tournament type
Groups, quarter finals and third place play-off per 16 teams. The match schedule is
generated automatically. Then plan the pitches and keep track of results and standings; visitors
follow the up-to-date schedule online.