Rules of Kicktrader

Kicktrader games are managed by one person, the League Manager, who has a game kit and sets everything up. The League Manager will communicate with players, collect up their team selections and update the leaderboard.

Play is very easy and involves just two important decisions: choosing eight teams to back before the World Cup kicks off, then refreshing your portfolio for the knockout stages.

Introduction: What is Kicktrader?

Kicktrader is a prediction market game for the FIFA World Cup, designed for groups of 2–30* players.

It plays like a cross between Fantasy Football and a stock market: each player builds a portfolio of national teams within a fixed budget of $100 CupCoins — the game's own universal currency — and those teams earn points based on match results as the tournament progresses.

Unlike most prediction games, Kicktrader has a built-in twist at half-time: after the group stage, every player banks their points and rebuilds their squad from the surviving 32 teams, using the same fixed tier prices . A player who had a poor group stage can stage a comeback. A player in the lead can cement their advantage — or get overturned by a bold re-draft.

*It’s possible to play with more than 30 players - see League Manager’s game kit for how

ELITE $20

France, Spain, Argentina, England, Portugal, Brazil, Netherlands, Morocco

PREMIUM $15

Belgium, Germany, USA, Croatia, Colombia, Japan, Senegal, Switzerland, Uruguay, South Korea, Iran, Mexico

MID-HIGH $12

Czechia, Turkey, Norway, Scotland, Ecuador, Australia, Austria, Ghana, Canada, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria

MID $9

Bosnia & Herz., Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Sweden, Curaçao, Iraq, Panama, New Zealand, Uzbekistan

VALUE $6

Qatar, Haiti, DR Congo, Jordan

The Teams and Prices

Each of the 48 qualifying nations has been assigned a price tier based on their official FIFA world ranking at the time of the tournament draw. The top-ranked teams are the most expensive; the lowest-ranked teams are the cheapest.

There are five price tiers.

The 8 Squad Shapes

Each player must pick exactly 8 teams with a combined price of exactly $100 — no change is given.

The maths of the five tier prices means there are just 8 ways to reach $100 with 8 teams.

These are the 8 valid squad shapes.

SHAPE 1

2 Elite + 2 Mid-high + 4 Mid

SHAPE 2

2 Elite + 3 Mid-high + 2 Mid + 1 Value

SHAPE 3

2 Elite + 4 Mid-high + 2 Value

SHAPE 4

2 Elite + 1 Premium + 5 Mid

SHAPE 5

2 Elite + 1 Premium + 1 Mid-high + 3 Mid + 1 Value

SHAPE 6

2 Elite + 1 Premium + 2 Mid-high + 1 Mid + 2 Value

SHAPE 7

2 Elite + 2 Premium + 2 Mid + 2 Value

SHAPE 8

2 Elite + 2 Premium + 1 Mid-high + 3 Value

Phase 1: Group Stage

  • Before the tournament begins, all players select their 8 teams. No two players are prevented from picking the same team — overlapping picks are allowed and add to the fun. The League Manager records each player's squad in the Scoring Tracker.

  • The 2026 World Cup group stage consists of 12 groups of 4 teams. Each team plays 3 matches. The top 2 teams from each group plus the 8 best third-place teams (24 + 8 = 32 teams) advance to the Round of 16.

  • Points accumulate automatically for all teams in a player's squad based on the scoring system (see below). The League Manager enters results into the Scoring Tracker after each match.

  • At the end of the group stage — before the Round of 16 begins — every player's accumulated points are locked in (banked). This banked total carries forward to the final score regardless of Phase 2 performance.


Example: Player A banks 142 points after the group stage. In Phase 2 they earn a further 87 points. Their final score is 229.

Phase 2: Knockout Stage

  • This is the defining feature of Kicktrader. After the group stage, every player rebuilds their squad from scratch using a fresh $100 budget. Only the 32 teams that qualified for the knockout stage are available.

  • For Phase 2, the same five price tiers apply as in Phase 1 — Elite $20, Premium $15, Mid-high $12, Mid $9, Value $6. A team keeps its original tier price regardless of how it performed in the group stage.

  • Importantly, the fixed squad shape requirement is removed for Phase 2. Players may pick ANY 8 teams from the 32 qualifiers as long as the total equals exactly $100 CupCoins. This is intentional: the 32 surviving teams may not always preserve the tier distribution needed to support all 8 Phase 1 shapes, so enforcing shapes in Phase 2 could make some squads impossible to construct. Any valid $100 combination of 8 surviving teams is permitted.

Example: France (Elite, $20) topped their group. In Phase 2 they still cost $20. A savvy player who wants France must still allocate two Elite slots to do so — the budget constraint remains fully in force.

The Re-Draft Rules

  • Each player picks a fresh squad of 8 teams from the 32 qualifiers, spending exactly $100.

  • Players may re-pick any team, including ones they held in Phase 1.

  • Squads from Phase 1 are discarded. Phase 2 picks are entirely independent.

  • The re-draft should take place after all group stage matches are complete and before the Round of 16 begins.

  • Phase 2 picks must be submitted to the League Manager before the first Round of 16 match kicks off. Late submissions forfeit Phase 2 points entirely.

The Phase 2 Rules

  • Phase 2 covers the Round of 16 through to the Final. Teams earn points for every match they play, with additional milestone bonuses for each round reached.

  • The knockout stage scoring uses the same per-match system as Phase 1 (goals scored, clean sheets, wins) plus the round-progression bonuses shown in the Scoring System.

  • If a knockout match goes to extra time or penalties, the match is treated as a win for the team that advances and a loss for the team eliminated — regardless of the scoreline in regular time.

  • Goals still matter in the knockouts. A team that wins 4–0 earns significantly more than a team that wins 1–0 on penalties. This keeps every goal meaningful throughout the tournament.

Scoring System

PER MATCH
Win = +5
Draw = +2
Loss = 0
Goal scored = +3
Goal conceded = 0
Clean sheet (0 goals conceded) = +3

GROUP STAGE BONUS
Finish as group winner = +5
Finish as group runner-up = +4
Qualify as 8 best third-place teams = +2
Eliminated = 0

KNOCKOUT STAGE BONUS
Qualify for Round of 16 = +2
Reach Quarter-final = +4
Reach Semi-final = +6
Reach Final = +7
Win the World Cup = +10
KO stage win (per match) = +4

How was this scoring system devised?

This point allocation was tested over 1000 times through computer simulation, with points adjusted until the optimal competitive mix was found.

Point deductions for goals conceded and games lost was found to create a weaker game for players.

Tiebreakers

If two or more players finish on equal total points, the following tiebreakers apply in order:

1. Most points earned in Phase 2 (knockout stage) alone.

2. Most teams still active at the furthest round of the tournament.

3. Total goals scored across all teams in the player's Phase 2 squad.

4. League Manager’s discretion. If this unlikely situation occurs, the League Manager decides how to conclude the tournament and how to award a winner (or just accept a tie)