24-team single elimination bracket

About a 24-team bracket

Twenty-four rounds up to 32 lines, so the top eight seeds get byes and the other sixteen teams play eight first-round games (9 v 24, 16 v 17 and so on). The byes put the top eight straight into the round of 16.

Because a third of the field starts a round later, the first round can run while the seeded teams arrive or warm up. On paper it is a 32-line bracket with the first-round slots for seeds 1 to 8 left out.

Byes and the first round

24 teams round up to a 32-line bracket, which leaves 8 byes. They go to seeds 1 to 8, who go straight into the second round without playing. The other 16 teams play 8 first-round games: 16 v 17, 9 v 24, 13 v 20, 12 v 21, 15 v 18, 10 v 23, 14 v 19, 11 v 22. Each pairing adds up to 33, so the strongest team left meets the weakest.

No seeding? Write the names in at random, or put the names into the bracket maker and choose Random draw for a reproducible draw you can print.

Round by round

Every game, in order

The same numbers as on the printed bracket, so a scorer can call out “game 5” and everyone knows where to write.

1. M1 (First round): Seed 16 v Seed 17
2. M2 (First round): Seed 9 v Seed 24
3. M3 (First round): Seed 13 v Seed 20
4. M4 (First round): Seed 12 v Seed 21
5. M5 (First round): Seed 15 v Seed 18
6. M6 (First round): Seed 10 v Seed 23
7. M7 (First round): Seed 14 v Seed 19
8. M8 (First round): Seed 11 v Seed 22
9. M9 (Round of 16): Seed 1 v Winner of M1
10. M10 (Round of 16): Seed 8 v Winner of M2
11. M11 (Round of 16): Seed 4 v Winner of M3
12. M12 (Round of 16): Seed 5 v Winner of M4
13. M13 (Round of 16): Seed 2 v Winner of M5
14. M14 (Round of 16): Seed 7 v Winner of M6
15. M15 (Round of 16): Seed 3 v Winner of M7
16. M16 (Round of 16): Seed 6 v Winner of M8
17. M17 (Quarterfinals): Winner of M9 v Winner of M10
18. M18 (Quarterfinals): Winner of M11 v Winner of M12
19. M19 (Quarterfinals): Winner of M13 v Winner of M14
20. M20 (Quarterfinals): Winner of M15 v Winner of M16
21. M21 (Semifinals): Winner of M17 v Winner of M18
22. M22 (Semifinals): Winner of M19 v Winner of M20
23. M23 (Final): Winner of M21 v Winner of M22

How long it takes

Time slots needed if each court or field plays one game per slot and a round must finish before the next starts:

Single or double elimination?

In this bracket one loss ends a team’s day, and 8 of the 24 teams are out after the first round. A 24-team double elimination bracket gives every team at least two games, at a cost of 46 or 47 games instead of 23, with a losers’ bracket of 7 rounds. The bracket maker can draw one for 24 teams.

Final placings

A finished bracket places every team. Teams knocked out in the same round share a place unless you play extra games to separate them.

• 1st: 1 team
• 2nd: 1 team
• 3rd–4th: 2 teams (or 3rd and 4th after a third-place game)
• 5th–8th: 4 teams
• 9th–16th: 8 teams
• 17th–24th: 8 teams

Printing it

The Print button prints only the bracket, landscape, scaled to one page, with a title and a date line. Smallest text on the page for each paper size (below about 6 pt it is hard to read; handwriting needs the line, not the text):

• Letter (11 × 8.5 in): about 5.8 pt
• A4 (297 × 210 mm): about 6.1 pt
• Legal (14 × 8.5 in): about 7.4 pt
• Tabloid (17 × 11 in): about 9 pt

Tabloid (or A3) is the best fit for this size. On Letter or A4 it still fits on one page, but the text is small: keep names short, or write team numbers.

Page last reviewed 30 September 2026.