Tournament Format
The Quadball World Cup will unfold across three thrilling phases. First, pool play sorts all 31 teams through fierce (cross-)round-robin matchups. Then, it's all or nothing in the knockout round, where every team fights for a place in the championship bracket. The top 16 face off in high-stakes elimination matches until one champion remains. Meanwhile, consolation games ensure every team battles for final placement. Every game counts—every ranking earned.
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Learn more about each phase below.
Phase 1 - Pool Play
There will be 3 pools of five teams and 4 pools of four teams. Pools A-C will have five teams, and pools D-G will have four teams.
The pools A-C will play a round robin, whilst pools D-G will play a round robin against the team of their complimentary pool (D vs E, F vs G) ("cross-pool play"). This means every team plays 4 games in pool play.
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The pools will be distributed as follows:
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POOL A
Seed 1
Seed 3
Seed 4
Seed 5
Seed 5
POOL B
Seed 1
Seed 3
Seed 4
Seed 5
Seed 5
POOL C
Seed 1
Seed 3
Seed 4
Seed 5
Seed 5
POOL D
Seed 2
Seed 3
Seed 4
Seed 5
POOL F
Seed 2
Seed 3
Seed 4
Seed 5
POOL E
Seed 2
Seed 3
Seed 4
Seed 5
POOL G
Seed 2
Seed 3
Seed 4
Seed 5
At the end of pool play all teams will be ranked 1st to 31st place based on certain tiebreakers that will be announced at a later moment.
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Rank #1 will automatically qualify for the Round of 16, and will only need to play 1 game in Phase 2.
Seeds?
Seeding is the process of ranking teams before a tournament based on their past performance or merit. Higher-seeded teams are considered stronger and are placed in different groups to avoid facing each other in early rounds.
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For the IQA World Cup 2025, team seeds are determined by their current ELO* scores.
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*ELO is a rating system that measures the relative skill levels of teams based on their performance in official IQA events. When a team wins, it gains points—especially if the opponent was highly ranked. If it loses, it drops points, particularly if the opponent was lower ranked. The amount gained or lost depends on the expected outcome, meaning upsets shift rankings more significantly.
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SEED 1
BELGIUM
GERMANY
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SEED 2
AUSTRALIA
ENGLAND
FRANCE
ITALY
SEED 3
AFRICAN NATIONS
AUSTRIA
CANADA
INDIA
NORWAY
SPAIN
TÜRKIYE
SEED 4
BRAZIL
JAPAN
MEXICO
NETHERLANDS
POLAND
SLOVENIA
WALES
SEED 5 (Unseeded)
BASQUE COUNTRY
CZECHIA
IRELAND
PHILIPPINES
SWITZERLAND
CATALONIA
HONG KONG
LATIN AMERICA
SCOTLAND
VIETNAM
Phase 2 - Play-Offs
In the Play-Offs, teams will enter a knockout round, where the top-ranked team from pool play receives a bye. The remaining teams are paired based on their rankings—2nd vs 31st, 3rd vs 30th, and so on.
Winners from these match-ups advance to the round of 16, joined by the 1st-ranked team, while the losing teams move into the consolation bracket.
Victories in the round of 16 secure a spot in the championship bracket, bringing teams one step closer to the World Cup title.
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Phase 3 - Championship- & Consolation Bracket
In Phase Three, the tournament splits into two paths: the championship bracket and the consolation games.
The championship bracket features the top 8 teams, who advance from the Play-Offs. These teams compete in single-elimination rounds—quarterfinals, semifinals, a third-place playoff, and the grand final—to determine the World Cup champion.
Meanwhile, the 24 remaining teams enter the consolation bracket, where they continue to compete for final placements, ensuring full rankings from 9th to 32nd are earned on the pitch.
