Q: What is a “confidence” pool? A: A “confidence” pool requires players to rank teams competing in a tournament (like the World Cup) from best to worst in terms of the player’s confidence the team will score highly under a chosen scoring system for that tournament. The rank assigned to a team by a player determines the rank multiplier for that team and player (e.g., if a player ranks the USA #1, the rank multiplier for the USA for that player would be 32, and if a player ranks a country #2, the rank multiplier for that country for that player would be 31, and so on). A chart of ranks and corresponding multipliers is contained here:
(first table). The rank multipliers are multiplied by the base scores that the teams earn (see explanation of base score calculations in next question), and the results are summed up for each player. The 2022 World Cup has 32 teams competing, and this pool will require ranking each team with a number between 1 and 32 (again, #1 is best).
Q: What scoring system does this pool use to calculate base scores of teams for the 2022 World Cup? A: This pool will use a scoring system to calculate base scores as shown in the
(second table). Under this system, the maximum base score available to any team will be 57 points, which would be calculated as follows: (a) 9 points from the group stage (which would require winning all 3 games), plus (b) 3 points for advancing to the Round of 16, plus (c) 5 points for advancing to the quarterfinals, plus (d) 8 points for advancing to the semifinals, plus (e) 12 points for advancing to the finals, plus (f) 20 points for winning the final championship game. A player that ranked such max-scoring team as #1 (i.e., with a rank multiplier of 32) would receive 1,824 points (57 times 32) from that team alone (plus their rank multipliers multiplied by the base scores of the other 31 teams).
Q: How do I keep track of the pool standings? A: Check the
based on the countries you identify when entering your picks. You also may create a group (e.g., a group of your friends, family, teammates or colleagues) and have a specific leaderboard created for that group, using the instructions at the
Q: What is the format of the 2022 World Cup? A: The 2022 World Cup involves 32 teams, separated into 8 groups of 4 teams. The teams within each group play each other team in their group once (i.e., “round robin” style), which means that each team plays 3 group stage games. Each win in a group stage game is worth 3 points and each draw is worth 1 point. (Here, “points” refers to the World Cup’s point system.) The top 2 teams in each group (based on points, and applying certain tiebreakers as necessary) advance to a 16-team knockout style playoff bracket. The playoff bracket is single-elimination (meaning that a loss eliminates a team from further competition), except the losers of the semifinal games will play each other to determine the third-place winner.
Q: What teams are participating in the 2022 World Cup? A: Click here:
(see fifth table down, called “Countries - Grouped by Group”) for a list of teams organized by group. The same page has several other tables showing views of the same teams organized in different ways.
Q: When does the 2022 World Cup take place? A: The first game is on November 20, 2022. The final game is on December 18, 2022. See full schedule here:
are automatically added to a database, and will be added later to the pool’s database (exact timing is TBD). Picks that are in the pool’s database are shown in
table will not show your specific team rankings prior to the beginning of the World Cup, but those rankings will be made visible soon after the first game begins.
Q: What if I want to make a change after submitting my picks? A: Adjustments to picks already submitted are not permitted.
Q: Can I submit multiple pool entries? A: Yes.
Q: How can I communicate with other players? A: This website will not provide a means of communicating among players.
Q: What if I want to participate in this pool as part of a group? A: If you would like to have a separate leaderboard created for your group, there is a fee of US$10. Leaders/organizers of groups should use the
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