In chained formats (Groups + Knockout, League + Knockout) the advancement rule decides how many teams move from one stage to the next.
Two readings
- From a group stage
- The rule applies PER GROUP. “2 per group” with 4 groups sends 8 teams to the knockout.
- From a league
- The rule is a TOTAL. “Top 8” sends the league’s top 8 teams through.
When is it set?
On the Tournament Format screen, while choosing the format. The system offers only counts that fit a bracket and do not exceed your squad of teams.
Extra teams: how are the “best third-placed” compared?
Besides the teams that advance directly from each group, you can also take teams from the “best N-th placed” (for example top 2 per group + the best 2 third-placed). Those teams come from different groups, so they are compared with each other. If the groups are the same size, the comparison uses points, goal difference and goals scored directly.
If the groups differ in size (for example 13 teams: 5 + 4 + 4), the candidate from the larger group has played more matches. In that case you choose how the comparison is made; the choice is asked on the same screen, below the number of extra teams:
- Per-match ratio
- No match is removed; points, goal difference and goals are compared per match played. This is the default.
- Drop the extra matches
- For the candidate from the larger group, the match against the team that finished last in its group is left out of the comparison, so every candidate is compared over the same number of matches. The group table itself does not change; only the cross-group comparison uses this calculation.
This choice affects only the comparison of the extra teams (the best N-th placed). Teams advancing directly from each group and the order inside each group are the same under both options.
Can I change it later?
Yes — as long as the target stage has not been consumed. The rule closes when any of these becomes true:
- the target stage’s participants have been confirmed,
- matches exist in the target stage,
- the target stage has started sportingly.
You can edit the advancement rule even after the draw is official. This is a narrow correction surface: it changes only the advancement rule. It does NOT change the format, the number of groups, group sizes, the draw result, the team pool or the seeding layout.
What if a team withdraws?
If withdrawal or disqualification leaves fewer eligible teams than the target, the system does not trap you:
- Remaining equals the target
- All remaining teams advance. Nothing blocks you.
- Remaining is below the target
- All eligible teams advance; the next stage is built with the real participant count and the bracket is arranged with a preliminary round or byes if needed.
- Remaining is above the target
- The rule keeps selecting normally.
If every team in a small group would advance, the system tells you plainly. That is not a block; the sporting choice stays yours.
Withdrawal or disqualification records the team's unplayed matches as forfeits. If one of those matches belongs to a later stage and an earlier-stage match is not yet settled (postponed or reopened), the action is not applied; finish that match first. The team and its matches stay as they were.
If a team withdraws after the knockout bracket is built, the bracket is not rebuilt: the withdrawn team's opponent advances by forfeit and takes its place in the existing bracket. Group results and the other pairings stay as they are.
If a result correction or a team withdrawal puts a new team into a match, the match keeps its date, time and pitch. If the new team already has another match at that time, the match and the pairing are still kept and only the date and pitch are removed; the match waits to be scheduled again (manually or with Automatic Scheduling) and both teams receive a schedule update notification.
If the team has a match that started but was postponed, that match is not decided automatically; the score already played is kept. Decide it from the match screen with a forfeit result. Until that match is resolved, the stage does not count as complete.