What is the draw and when is it made?

The draw distributes the participating teams into the tournament structure. What it does depends on the format:

• In a group stage: it distributes teams into groups.
• In a league: it sets the fixture order; teams are not distributed into groups.
• In a direct knockout: it decides the bracket pairings.

Who produces the result?

The server, always. The animation on screen is presentation only; it cannot change which team comes out. A draw result is never produced in your browser.

When is the draw made?

After the Tournament Format is set and the draw participant list is confirmed. Not before.

The flow

1. Choose the draw rule (Random, Seeded or Pot).
2. Choose the draw experience: Automatic Draw or Presentation Draw. A Presentation Draw has three presentation formats: Timed draw presentation, Scheduled draw presentation or Manager-controlled draw presentation.
3. Make the draw. The result is shown as a DRAFT.
4. Review the result. If you are not happy, draw again.
5. Make the draw official. Only then does it reach the outside world.

A draft draw never reaches the public page or the team-facing screens. Only you see it.

If the draw was made elsewhere

In a group stage you can create the draw yourself instead of the system — for instance if the draw took place in a hall or somewhere else. Once the draw participant list is confirmed, open the “Create the draw yourself” section on the Draw page, pick the teams for each group’s slots and select “Save groups”.

• The draw becomes official the moment you save; there is no separate draft and approval step.
• It is written to the draw history as a draw you created (manual).
• Once the draw is official this section is no longer shown. To change the groups you must undo the draw first.

Is there a draw at every stage?

No. In chained formats the draw exists only for the first stage. Moving from a group or league stage to a knockout does not trigger a new draw; the pairings follow from the previous stage’s results and the advancement rules. Seeds from the first draw give no new advantage here.

Edit knockout order

In a knockout stage that is filled from the previous stage’s results, the “Edit knockout order” section may appear on the Draw page before that stage’s fixtures are generated. There you change the order of the participants yourself and select “Save order” — for instance if you have your own pairing scheme.

• The pairing rule does not change: the first team in the order meets the last, the second meets the second-to-last. You only set the order.
• This section is offered only when the seeded draw feature is available. If it is not offered, the order comes from the previous stage’s standings.
• Once fixtures are generated the order can no longer be changed. You can change the pairings of a first round that has not started with “Edit pairings” below.
• A league, and a direct knockout that is the tournament’s first stage, do not have this section; there the draw itself sets the order.

Edit pairings (after fixtures are generated)

If the knockout stage’s fixtures exist but no match of the first round has started, you can set the pairings yourself — for instance when the pairings come from a draw held elsewhere by the organising body. Open the “Edit pairings” section on the Draw page (the “Edit pairings” link on the Fixtures page leads there too), choose two teams for each pairing and select “Save pairings”.

• Matches are not deleted: date, time, venue and referee assignments stay in place. If a team in a new pairing already has another match at the same time, that match’s schedule is removed and listed on screen; you then reschedule it.
• The next round is fixed: the winners of pairings 1 and 2 meet in the first semi-final, the winners of pairings 3 and 4 in the second. The screen shows this link. Following the organising body’s semi-final plan, put the two pairings whose winners should meet next to each other.
• Only teams that qualified for this stage can be chosen, and each team must appear exactly once.
• The system does not notify teams or referees about this change. Inform the teams and officials yourself before saving.
• This section is offered only in a single-leg knockout stage without a preliminary round that is filled from a group stage (not in a knockout fed by a league, a reduction or another knockout stage), and only when the seeded draw feature is available. If a match of the round has started, a match was cancelled (not played), the next round or the third-place match exists, or a team sheet was submitted for a match, the pairings cannot be edited; the screen says why.
• If a group result is corrected later and the qualified teams stay the same, your pairings are kept. If the qualified teams change, the pairings are rebuilt by the system’s rule and the changed pairings are listed separately on screen; edit them again if needed.