Road to the Final
Eight matches, three calls each, and a system that pays for courage. Everything you might want to know before you lock it in.
It is the final-stretch bracket: just the eight matches from the quarter-finals to the trophy. The quarter-final field comes from the real Round of 16 results, and for every match you predict three things: the winner, the exact score, and how the match ends (90 minutes, extra time, or penalties).
Each prediction pays on its own, and bold calls pay more. A correct winner earns the round's pick value (40 points in a quarter-final up to 160 in the final). Backing an underdog who wins adds a bonus on top. The exact score adds a bonus when your winner was also right, and the finish call pays by rarity even when your winner was wrong. The scoring page has the full point tables.
When the winner you correctly picked was ranked below their opponent in the FIFA world ranking, you earn an extra half of the pick value: 20 points in a quarter-final up to 80 in the final. Picking chalk is safe; being right about an upset is worth more.
The June 11, 2026 FIFA world ranking, the last edition published before the knockout rounds, frozen for the whole challenge. FIFA does not publish another update until July 20, after the final, so the same table applies to every match and every player.
The finish call is independent of your winner pick and weighted by how bold it is. In a quarter-final a correct 90-minute call pays 5 points, extra time 15, and penalties 20; in the final those rise to 20, 60, and 80. Calling "this one goes to penalties" pays even if the wrong team wins the shootout.
The score at the end of play, including extra time if the match goes there. A penalty shootout does not change the scoreline: a 1-1 match decided on penalties counts as 1-1. The exact-score bonus only pays when you also picked the correct winner.
The bracket locks for good when the semi-finals begin on July 14. Until then you can enter and edit freely, with one fair-play rule: each quarter-final locks individually the moment it kicks off.
That match earns no points for you, since its result was already under way when you made your bracket. Every match that had not kicked off yet still counts in full, so joining mid-weekend only costs you the games already played.
Yes. Create a league from the leagues page, choose Road to the Final as its bracket type, and share the invite code. A league has exactly one bracket type, so a Road league sits alongside any classic, fanatic, or Knockout Stage league you already run.
Scores update live as the quarter-finals finish, but everyoneโs actual picks stay hidden until the bracket locks at the semi-finals. Your own bracket is always visible to you.
The system was finalized on July 8, 2026, before the first quarter-final kicked off, and no points had been scored under the earlier provisional values. Nothing changes mid-challenge.
USA
Canada
Mexico