International soccer
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Once every four years, the world stops to watch. Lock in your knockout bracket, battle through every round, and make every match mean more for charity.
Nothing to join right now.
Dates for the next one are to be decided. They appear here as soon as they are — or pick another sport below, which may well be running.
What you buy
One buy-in covers the whole knockout bracket, start to finish. You make every pick in one sitting, and that is the last thing it asks of you.
The knockout bracket
once a seasonYou pick every knockout match, from the round of 32 to the final — thirty-two of them.
5 battle rounds inside it, each against a fan from your own city — or, once in a while, a rivalry battle against another city altogether.
- Round of 3220% at stake
- Round of 1620% at stake
- Quarter-finals20% at stake
- Semi-finals10% at stake
- The last weekend10% at stake
Banked for your charity the moment it locks10%
Mad4Change, which is what pays the card fees10%
That is the whole of it: 20 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 100. The first 10% is your charity’s whatever happens next, and we never ask you to cover the card fee on top. From $20, in whole dollars, and you can top it up until it locks.
The field
Who you are picking between, and what it took them to get there.
48
nations qualify
Up from thirty-two, starting with the 2026 men's tournament. Places are shared out between the six continental confederations, and qualifying runs for the best part of two years before anybody kicks a ball at the tournament itself.
12
groups of four
Every nation plays the other three in its group. The top two in each group go through, plus the eight best third-placed nations — thirty-two into the knockout bracket. The women's tournament still runs thirty-two nations in eight groups, so its bracket starts at the round of 16 and has one round fewer.
32
matches in your bracket
Sixteen, then eight, then four, then two, then the third-place match and the final on the same weekend. Around four weeks from the first knockout match to the last.
How it works
- The groups decide the field. When they finish, the knockout bracket is set and the stretch opens — you pick the winner of every match in it, in one sitting.
- Five battle rounds as the field halves: the round of 32, the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and the last weekend.
- From the first knockout kick-off your bracket is fixed, the same as every other bracket here.
- A knockout match always has a winner, even if it takes extra time and penalties to find one — so unlike the group stage, nothing is ever void.
- Leave a match blank and your backup rule fills it in when the stretch locks: the better group record, or the higher-ranked nation.
Every round is a new battle
Each round, you face one other fan. Pick more games correctly and you take a bigger share of the round for your charity. Then the slate resets, the matchups change, and you battle someone new.
- Round 1new opponent
- Round 2new opponent
- Round 3new opponent
- Round 4new opponent
- Round 5new opponent
Round 1, Philadelphia
Made-up exampleBlitzForGood
Won the roundPlaying for Hometown Food Pantry
Correct picks
12
Stake
$20.00
SteelCitySteve
Lost the roundPlaying for Kids' Hospital Fund
Correct picks
10
Stake
$20.00
BlitzForGood picked more games right, so the two stakes of $20.00 come together as $40.00:
$28.00
banked for Hometown Food Pantry
Guaranteed. It can never be lost again.
$12.00
carried into round 2
BlitzForGood starts the next round with more at stake.
SteelCitySteve keeps every dollar already banked for Kids' Hospital Fund, and still has a stake waiting in rounds 2 to 5.
Level on correct picks? We look at your score across every round so far, then at who called the games fewer fans got right. If you are still inseparable it is a genuine tie, and each of you keeps your own stake — split the same way a win is, so you both carry something into the next round. In the last round there is no next round, so it is all banked.
Who do you battle?
Your friends, in a group
Start a group, send the link by email or text, and you are matched inside your group first. It is the office pool, except the bragging rights come with donations.
- Set your own buy-in for the group, at or above the $20 minimum.
- Four ready members and your group plays on its own.
- Friends in another city can join and you all battle each other — each of you still playing for a charity where you live.
Your city, in the open pool
No group? You are matched with another fan from your city. Different charities battling each other is the whole point, so the money moves around the city rather than in a circle.
- Matched with someone who gave a similar amount, so it stays fair.
- We avoid pairing you with the same charity, or the same opponent twice.
- Odd number of fans? Three of you battle, and the top score takes both stakes.
Where a $100 donation goes
When the tournament starts, your donation gets put to work. Some is locked in for your charity right away, some is set aside for each battle round, and a small portion helps keep Mad4Change running.
Then the fun starts. Each round gives you a chance to steal a bigger share of the money for your charity. Lose one battle? No problem. You’re back the next round with a new opponent and another shot to take more for your cause.
An example of how a stretch like this one splits. Each stretch carries its own figures, and you will see them before you donate to it.
| Block | Share | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| At stake in Round of 32 | 20% | $20.00 |
| At stake in Round of 16 | 20% | $20.00 |
| At stake in Quarter-finals | 20% | $20.00 |
| At stake in Semi-finals | 10% | $10.00 |
| At stake in The last weekend | 10% | $10.00 |
| Banked for your charity right away | 10% | $10.00 |
| Mad4Change operational expenses | 10% | $10.00 |
Win a round and you take your opponent's stake for it: a percentage is banked for your charity and the rest carries into your next round. The last round banks everything.
What if I win every round?
Assuming each opponent staked the same as you. This is the best case, not a promise.
| Round | You stake | Round total | Banked | Carried |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banked at the start | — | — | $10.00 | — |
| Round of 32 | $20.00 | $40.00 | $28.00 | $12.00 |
| Round of 16 | $32.00 | $64.00 | $44.80 | $19.20 |
| Quarter-finals | $39.20 | $78.40 | $54.88 | $23.52 |
| Semi-finals | $33.52 | $67.04 | $46.93 | $20.11 |
| The last weekend | $30.11 | $60.22 | $60.22 | — |
| Total for your charity | $244.83 | |||
Lose every round instead and your charity still keeps the $10.00 banked at the start, while your stakes bank for other fans' charities. Either way, 90% of every dollar reaches a charity.
Worth knowing about International soccer
The group stage is not part of it, and that is deliberate
About a quarter of group matches end level — it is one of the defining things about the sport, not a rarity. Picking a winner in a match that can reasonably end in neither would void a quarter of everybody's picks and make a nonsense of the round. So the groups decide who is in your bracket, and the bracket is what you play. A knockout match cannot end level: extra time and then penalties see to that.
When it runs
2027 tournament
- Registration opens
- June 28, 2027
- First game
- July 4, 2027
- Last game
- July 25, 2027
2030 tournament
- Registration opens
- June 20, 2030
- First game
- June 29, 2030
- Last game
- July 21, 2030
Dates are from the published schedule and can move for television. Picks close the moment your first game starts, and we remind you before that.
City vs city
Example — the real race starts when the first season opensBattle local fans. Back local charities. Keep the money in your city.
Then, when a rivalry battle comes up, your city gets a chance to steal a bigger share from another city’s total — all while competing to see which city can raise the most for home.
Philadelphia
LeadingPhiladelphia and South Jersey
$6,417.50
banked for Philadelphia charities
- Fans playing
- 174
- Per fan
- $36.88
Pittsburgh
Western Pennsylvania
$4,863.00
banked for Pittsburgh charities
- Fans playing
- 118
- Per fan
- $41.21
- Philadelphia: $6,417.50
- Pittsburgh: $4,863.00
- Combined: $11,280.50 for local charities
Philadelphia leads on the total, but Pittsburgh fans bank more each ($41.21 per fan). Bring more fans and the total follows.
Not in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh? You can still play: pick the city you want to raise money for.