Welcome to the Lav-ish Design World Cup Pool 2026
Welcome, soccer experts, casual guessers, patriotic overthinkers, and people who joined because someone said “it’ll be fun.”
This year we’re trying a brand-new format, mostly because the 2026 World Cup has roughly the same number of games as a Major League Baseball season and nobody wants to predict the score of 104 matches unless they’ve been personally wronged by free time. So instead of picking every single game, you’ll build your own World Cup squad by selecting ANY 10 Teams to follow through the tournament. Your teams will earn points as they win(3), tie(2), and knock out round wins(2). You also select 3 players of your choice. You cannot pick the same player twice and you earn 2 points for every goal and 1 point for an assist. You’ll also answer a few bonus questions, because nothing says “friendly pool” like arguing over who picked the correct Golden Boot winner in July.
How It Works
Each $20 entry will include:
- Your 10 team picks
- Bonus questions worth extra points
- A nickname, because “Dave from accounting” is less intimidating than “The VARfather”
The goal (hope) is to keep things close, competitive, and dramatic right to the end — unlike some elections, indictments, or penalty shootouts involving England.
Scoring
Your selected teams will collect points as the tournament progresses. Wins, ties, and advancement will all matter, but the format is designed so nobody runs away with the pool too early.
In other words, if your teams peak in the group stage and then collapse like a poorly built border wall, you’re still not completely out of it.
Bonus Questions
There will also be 5 bonus questions to help shake up the standings. These are your chance to look brilliant, lucky, or suspiciously like you Googled “World Cup predictions 2026” five minutes before entering.
All questions will be worth 3 points aside from the main Question: Who will win this years World Cup – which will be 5 points.
Important Notes
This is a new format, so expect excitement, strategy, and at least one person claiming they “would have won under the old rules.” But as with everything there will be things that could have been better. This is the first run and we will adjust for the Euros and pools to come.
Trash talk is encouraged, but keep it fun.
Blaming FIFA, referees, VAR, the United States, or Trump is acceptable within reason.
Canada winning the whole thing is mathematically possible, emotionally encouraged, and legally required for all Canadian entries.
Good luck, have fun, and may your picks survive longer than a U.S. political press secretary.