The Beautiful Pool

My dream of sitting in a cafe in Bogotá and watching COL win the World Cup evaporated yesterday in the worst possible way; penalty kicks. So it goes.

Nobody picked the winner in all eight games in the latest round. The best result was 6 of the eight, which is still an impressive performance. Well done Jeroen B, Jim T, Joep B, Moniqe P, Ozgur T, Sadhana V, Sandra MK, Tony D and Yukari S.

And speaking of Tony D, he is now at the top of the leaderboard, all by himself. Also impressive. But his picks include BRA winning a couple more games, which of course is impossible now that they have been eliminated by, checks notes, NOR! Some of the other leaders have more opportunity to pick up points so Tony D is in for a rough ride.

Chris H has carved out a comfortable position at the bottom of the rankings. The only team in his remaining picks that has not been eliminated is ARG. So I think he has a firm grip on the Mercy prize.

Here is the complete listing of results:

We are getting near the end now, and even if you are not in the running for a prize, I hope you will stick around for the next update, which will come after the quarter finals.

TTFN

Thank you to everyone who responded to my pleas to get your picks in to me. I know it was a tight timeline, but nearly everyone made it. Unfortunately we lost Chris H, Dario P and Rick C. I’m guessing they experienced some combination of technical difficulties and competing priorities. It’s hard to believe, but I suppose this isn’t the most important thing in everyone’s lives. Anyway, we will miss them.

Among the 59 of us who remain, the most popular pick for 2026 World Cup winner, by far, is FRA.

The previous winners, ARG, are second – but it isn’t really close. There are, of course, the die-hards who will always root for ENG and GER, perhaps wishing for a 1966 rematch. And then there are the outliers: a single vote for each of BEL, COL, JPN and POR. Brave souls.

Given all the spreadsheet glitches that we just lived through, it is particularly important that you check my work. Here are your compiled predictions, using the same basic format as for the Group Stage. Please get out your magnifying glass and make sure everything is perfect.

The next update to the standings will be after the Round of 32, on or about 4 July.

PS: Almost everyone picked CAN and BRA to win the first two Knock-Out matches, so the standings haven’t changed much.

Here is where things stand at T-minus-3-hours-and-20-minutes

I am still waiting for picks from the people on the list below. If you are one of them, please send it to me right away. I need to receive it before the start of the BRA vs JPN match at 1:00 pm EDT today.

I also have partial submissions from Rick C and Anil K – but I need these to be complete.

Click HERE to go to get the entry forms, and to upload once completed.

I think the forms will all work with Google Sheets now.

If you can’t or don’t want to use the upload form, simply email your pick to me at stuart@brannan.org.

This has been a wild and crazy 24 hours, but we are nearly there. Thank you for your patience and co-operation.

It is 3 am, and Stuart is fast asleep.

This is BeautifulPoolBot, working the graveyard shift. Stuart asked me to remind you that your Knock-Out picks are due very soon.

So skip breakfast and submit them tout de suite.

The BeautifulPoolBot

As I feared, the Knock-Out Entry Form doesn’t always work properly with Google Sheets.

But, don’t worry, I have a work-around.

If you need to open the entry form with Google Sheets, I have created special versions. They don’t have the lines connecting the various matches, but otherwise they work just the same.

If you need them, you can download them here.

Knock-Out Entry Forms for Google Sheets Users

Once you have completed the form, save it to your PC (File > Download > Microsoft Excel), and then upload it on the Rules and Regulations page.

If this doesn’t work for you, you can visit your local public library, where they almost always have copies of Excel you can use.

And if worst comes to worst, you can print your entries on a hard copy, scan it, and upload that.

What a pain in the arse. Excuse my French.

Congratulations are in order

Jim R is a 2-time Beautiful Pool Grizzled Vet who didn’t appear on the leaderboard after the first or second round of Group Stage matches. Somehow, he managed to earn a very, very respectable 75 points when it mattered. He is the sole winner of the Group Stage prize of $290.00 (which is 25% of the total pool money, less $20). Congratulations Jim R.

The Newbie Holland8 team was just a shade behind him, followed by Prodigal Donna M and GV Stephen B. We should all be in awe of their accomplishments. I am.

Here are the average scores for each of the 3 groups.

Newbies have a modest lead over the Vets at this point. The Prodigals are looking pretty weak, to be honest. I hope this doesn’t discourage them. There is still lots of Beautiful Pool left.

Here are the complete results. In the table, I have indicated the teams that are eliminated by using strikeout text.

Knock-Out Round

Everyone submitted their CAN vs RSA pick by the deadline, so we are in good shape for the next phase.

Don’t forget to send in your Knock-Out picks before the start of the BRA vs JPN match tomorrow (Monday, 29 June).

One final hint: It may not be obvious, but the green cells in the Knock-Out Entry Form are drop-down menus showing the teams in each match. You should start with the two outside columns, for the Round of 32, and work your way inwards.

It seems that my last minute duct-tape solution to buy some time this weekend is working, mostly.

A great many of you have sent in your pick for the CAN vs RSA match that will take place tomorrow, Sunday 28 June. Thank you!

But I am still waiting for picks from the people on the list below. If you are one of them, please send it to me today. If you are related to one of these people, or are married to them, or just run into them on the street, please convey the urgency:

Click HERE to go to the special emergency entry form for the RSA:CAN match of the Knock-Out Round.

If you can’t or don’t want to use the form, simply email your pick to me at stuart@brannan.org.

The last of the Group Stage matches will be played today, and once they are done, I will upload the entry form for the Knock-Out Round. Keep a close eye on your email and/or the beautifulpool.org website tomorrow.

Hey guys – The Beautiful Pool brain trust has worked through the night to come up with a way to alleviate the time crunch this weekend. Here’s the plan (please pay attention):

• The Group Stage will not be completed until Saturday, 27 June.

⎯ BUT ⎯

• We already know that the first Knock-Out match, on Sunday, 28 June, will be between CAN and RSA. So, you can pick the winner of that match NOW.
• You can do this by completing the form below, or simply by emailing your pick to me at stuart@brannan.org.

Click HERE to submit the special emergency entry form for the RSA:CAN match of the Knock-Out Round.

On Sunday, 28 June, I will upload the entry form for the remaining Knock-Out matches and you will need to complete the rest of your picks and submit it to me before kick-off of match 76 at 1:00 pm EDT (5:00 pm UTC) on Monday, 29 June.

It will still be tight, but you should have at least 24 hours to make your picks.

I apologize for this complication to the process, but it’s not my fault. As usual, I blame FIFA.

Warning: Time Crunch Ahead

We are now 2 matches into the Group Stage, and I have updated the Beautiful Pool standings. See below.

But more importantly, the final Group Stage fixtures are this Saturday, 27 June and the first Knock-Out Round fixture is the very next day, on Sunday 28 June. This weekend is going to be insanely busy, especially because I will be out-of-town until Saturday.

I will make the entry form for the Knock-Out Round available as soon as the final standings are known, but there will be very little time for you to make your picks and send them to me. (I thought there was a 2 or 3 day gap, but I must have misread the schedule). There can be no lallygagging.

Please be ready.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your Beautiful Pool leaders…

Now that every team has played two matches, some of the quirkiness has been squeezed out of the standings. For example, when I calculated the results after one game, SCO was in first place in Group C, ahead of BRA and MAR. There was no way they could hold on to that.

As a result, the Beautiful Pool leaders look quite different now. Only Kyoko T and Sherman H have retained a place on the list. The rest emerged from the pack to take their place of honour.

The Newbies are doing very well, it seems. There are 4 Newbies (and one Prodigal) among the top 5 leaders; so, we seem to have attracted some very knowledgeable, or lucky, competitors for our little enterprise. We shall see.

You can see exactly how you are doing by downloading the full results here. Don’t worry, unless you are Cindy B you aren’t in last place.

Remember Joachim Klement, at Panmure Liberum, who has a system that has perfectly predicted World Cup winners since 2014? I previously shared his predictions, and if you had blindly followed them you would now have 70 points, very much in the middle of the pack.

A Belated Explanation

After sending the last update, I was reminded that I didn’t explain how I calculated your rankings. I will now rectify that oversight.

Remember that you get two points for correctly predicting each team that will advance from the Group Stage to the Knock-Out Round. 32 teams will advance, so that makes a total of 64 possible points if you get it exactly right. You get an additional point if you correctly pick the position of the team coming 1st and/or 2nd in each group. There are 12 groups, so that means you could earn another 24 points for getting the advancing teams in the right order. The maximum possible score for the Group Stage is therefore 88 points (64 + 24 = 88).

To determine the scores that I used to see who is ahead while the Group Stage is still underway, I just use the position of the teams in each group after the 1st and 2nd round of games.

Glad that’s settled and sorted and done and dusted.

Epilogue

If you have gotten this far, you might have forgotten the warning at the top of this update. Please go back and read it again.

I’m serious.

It’s all about us

There are 62 of us coming along on this 2026 Beautiful Pool joyride, and I couldn’t be happier. That is the largest number since 2014, and a significant increase from the 2024 outing. Thank you to everyone who convinced their friends, relatives or colleagues to join in.

Quality Control

This file includes all of the picks that you submitted. It is IMPORTANT that you download this file and check to make sure that I have correctly transferred your picks to the master mainframe computer database thingy.

Each column corresponds to a position in a Group. For example the “A1” column lists the teams that were shown as coming 1st in Group A. The “A2” column lists the picks for 2nd place in Group A and “A3” is the 3rd place team (if chosen). Same for the other Groups.

If something doesn’t look right, let me know and I will double check that it matches the entry form you submitted.

In the first column, I have included your category after your name. It is either GV for Grizzled Vet, N for Newbie or P for Prodigal. More on that later.

What to expect from me

Not much, actually. At least not right away.

I will put together a summary of which teams we collectively have chosen to advance, and maybe I’ll send an update after all teams have played 2 games. But mostly I’ll leave you alone for a while.

After all the teams advancing from the Group Stage are known, I will make the 2nd entry form available for download. Then you will need to pick the winner for each one of the 32 Knock-Out Stage matches. The second entry form needs to be returned to me before the first Knock-Out match on 28 June.

FAIR WARNING: Timing will be tight, as the first Knock-Out Stage match is only 3 days after the last Group Stage match. Please be ready when the time comes.

For now, “Let’s Play Ball”. (Wrong sports lingo, but you know what I mean).

Together, you and I, we did it. At time of writing, there are 45 participants in the 2026 Beautiful Pool, easily surpassing the 2024 level. I think that is splendid news.

I’m still waiting for entries from several folks who told me they would participate. At this point, they fall into one of two categories:

• They might be hard core World Cup enthusiasts, who are absorbing all the latest info to refine their picks. Or…

• They might be hard core procrastinators.

Whichever group they belong to, I hope they make their choices soon.

Burn, baby, burn

Dominik Z sent me this graphic, which makes the outcome of some matches even more unpredictable because they will probably be played in dangerously hot conditions. Do what you will with this scrap of data.

Cute

This is… interesting? The Belgian team released photos of their uniforms, with patterns inspired by Magritte.