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.

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.

The pools will be distributed as follows:

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 E

Seed 2
Seed 3
Seed 4
Seed 5

POOL F

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:

Number of matches won
Number of games won by a margin strictly greater than 30. The following examples are considered ‘out of range’
- A 140* – 100 B
- A 140 – 100* B
Total point difference (including catches)
- Capped at +/- 90 per game
Total number of flag catches
Least amount of Total Game Time
Drawing lots
- Where two teams are tied it will be decided by a coin toss. A representative from both teams will be invited to be present.
- Where three or more teams are tied, team names will be drawn from a lot. A representative of each team will be invited to be present.

Rank #1 will automatically qualify for the Round of 16, and will only need to play 1 game in Phase 2.

#1 ranked team's bye in the R32 will be counted as a forfeit win for ranking purposes.

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.

For the IQA World Cup 2025, team seeds are determined by their current ELO* scores.

*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.

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
QUADBALL 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 games.

Victories in the round of 16 secure a spot in the championship bracket, bringing teams one step closer to the World Cup title.

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.

Championship Bracket

Consolation Games - Lower Bracket

Any team eliminated in the first round of the Championship Bracket will enter one of the "Lower Bracket" Play-Offs.

28th - 31st Place Play-Offs

The losers of the following first-round matchups will enter the 28th–31st place bracket:

Loser of 2nd vs 31st
Loser of 3rd vs 30th
Loser of 4th vs 29th
Loser of 5th vs 28th

These four teams will then play:

Loser (2 vs 31) vs Loser (5 vs 28)
Loser (4 vs 29) vs Loser (3 vs 30)

The winners of these two games will advance to a playoff to determine 28th place, while the losers will play to determine 30th place.

24th - 27th Place Play-Offs

The losers of the following first-round matchups will enter the 24th–27th place bracket:

Loser of 6th vs 27th
Loser of 7th vs 26th
Loser of 8th vs 25th
Loser of 9th vs 24th

These four teams will then play:

Loser (6 vs 27) vs Loser (9 v 24)
Loser (7 v 26) vs Loser (8 v 25)

The winners of these two games will advance to a playoff to determine 24th place, while the losers will play to determine 26th place.

20th - 23rd Place Play-Offs

The losers of the following first-round matchups will enter the 24th–27th place bracket:

Loser of 10th vs 23rd
Loser of 11th vs 22nd
Loser of 12th vs 21st
Loser of 13th vs 20th

These four teams will then play:

Loser (10 vs 23) vs Loser (13 v 20)
Loser (11 v 22) vs Loser (12 v 21)

The winners of these two games will advance to a playoff to determine 20th place, while the losers will play to determine 23rd place.

17th - 19th Place Play-Offs

To determine final rankings for 17th through 19th place, a three-team round robin will be held.

The teams entering this bracket are the losers of the following matchups:

Loser of 14th vs 19th
Loser of 15th vs 18th
Loser of 16th vs 17th

Each team will play the other two once, for a total of three games.

Final standings (17th, 18th, and 19th place) will be determined based on round-robin results.

Standard Pool Play tiebreaker rules will apply in the event of a tie in win-loss records.

Consolation Games - Upper Bracket

9th - 16th Place Play-Offs

Teams eliminated in the Round of 16 will enter placement playoffs to determine rankings from 9th through 16th place.

These eight teams will be ranked based on overall performance using the same ranking and tiebreaker criteria as Pool Play, taking into account all games played to that point (including Pool Play, Round of 32 & Round of 16 results).

They will then be paired with the closest adjacent seed as follows:

1st highest ranked vs 2nd highest ranked → Winner takes 9th place
3rd highest vs 4th highest → Winner takes 11th place
5th highest vs 6th highest → Winner takes 13th place
7th highest vs 8th highest → Winner takes 15th place

No additional placement games will be held beyond these four matchups.

5th - 8th Place Play-Offs

The four teams eliminated in the Quarterfinals will compete to determine final rankings from 5th through 8th place.

Based on those rankings, they will be paired as follows:

1st highest ranked vs 2nd highest ranked → Winner takes 5th place
3rd highest vs 4th highest → Winner takes 7th place

No further games will be played in this bracket beyond these two matchups.

3rd-4th Place Play-Offs

The two teams eliminated in the Semifinals will play one final match to determine the 3rd place finisher and Bronze Medal winner.

This single game will decide final placement between:

Semifinal Loser A vs Semifinal Loser B

There are no tiebreakers—winner takes 3rd place, loser takes 4th.