Scoring and Rules

 

History:

I started the Desai Invitational in 2010 because I didn’t really like the existing World Cup pick ’em, pool, or fantasy structures.  I think a good World Cup fan competition should:

1. Encourage participants to follow more games
2. Allow participants to follow the teams they like (and root against the teams they don’t) without punishing their loyalty too harshly
3. Require little effort to enter
4. Encourage people to watch games they otherwise wouldn’t have
5. Reward people for picking sleepers (poorly regarded teams that do well)
6. Reward people for picking teams that go deep into the tournament

Tier Structure:

I listed all 48 participating teams by their ELO ranking, then divided them into twelve groups of four.  Participants will pick one team from each of the twelve tiers.

You’ll pick one team from each group of four, so in the end you’ll have twelve teams in the tournament that will score you points throughout.

Tier 1:
Spain
Argentina
France
England

Tier 2:
Brazil
Portugal
Columbia
Netherlands

Tier 3:
Ecuador
Germany
Norway
Croatia

Tier 4:
Turkey
Japan
Switzerland
Uruguay

Tier 5:
Belgium
Mexico
Senegal
Paraguay

Tier 6:
Austria
Morocco
Canada
Australia

Tier 7:
Iran
Scotland
Algeria
South Korea

Tier 8:
Czechia
Panama
United States
Uzbekistan

Tier 9:
Sweden
Egypt
Ivory Coast
Jordan

Tier 10:
DR Congo
Tunisia
Iraq
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tier 11:
Cabo Verde
Saudi Arabia
New Zealand
Haiti

Tier 12:
South Africa
Ghana
Curaçao
Qatar

Scoring:

Group Stage:
3 points for a win
1 point for a tie
3 points for advancing to the knockout stage

Knockout Stage:

4 points for winning in the round of 32
6 points for winning in the round of 16
8 points for winning in the quarterfinals
10 points for winning in the semifinals
12 points for winning the cup

Multipliers:

Tiers 1, 2, and 3 = score x 1
Tiers 4, 5, and 6 = score x 2
Tiers 7, 8, and 9 = score x 3
Tiers 10, 11, and 12 = score x 4