Group stage + knockout

Group stage + knockout (sometimes "groups + playoffs") is the World Cup pattern: everyone gets guaranteed group games, and the tournament ends with a knockout bracket among the qualifiers. It fits 3 to 64 teams in 1 to 8 groups.

The group phase

Each group runs as its own round robin with the shared points settings (default 3/1/0) and tiebreakers — see Standings and tiebreakers for the full chain. Standings are computed per group, and each group's table decides who advances.

Configuration knobs:

• Group count — 1 to 8. A single group is legal and turns the event into a "league, then playoff" shape.
• Group size — teams are distributed across groups; use random splitting or seed them deliberately, then drag names between groups to balance strength.
• Advance count per group — how many teams per group reach the knockout (e.g. top 2 of 4).

The knockout phase

When group play is done, Start knockout builds the playoff bracket:

• Qualifiers are seeded by group standings, and the bracket avoids first-round rematches between teams from the same group where the bracket shape allows.
• The knockout stage is configured as single or double elimination — pick in the format settings before starting.
• Starting the knockout locks the group tables: group results become read-only, so late edits cannot rewrite who qualified.

When to choose it

• Events where players expect multiple guaranteed games and a dramatic finale.
• Mixed-strength fields: groups separate the tiers, the bracket finishes the story.
• One-day club tournaments — 3 groups of 4 with top-2 advancing is a proven shape for 12 teams.

Relation to the generators

The round robin generator produces a single-group version of this format; convert multi-group events in the workspace by picking group stage + knockout at creation.