The 12-team round robin schedule
Every team plays every other team once. The teams are numbered 1 to 12 in the order you list them, and the team named first in a match is the home team, if your games have one.
| Round | Matches |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 v 12, 11 v 2, 3 v 10, 9 v 4, 5 v 8, 7 v 6 |
| 2 | 11 v 1, 12 v 10, 2 v 9, 8 v 3, 4 v 7, 6 v 5 |
| 3 | 10 v 1, 9 v 11, 12 v 8, 7 v 2, 3 v 6, 5 v 4 |
| 4 | 1 v 9, 8 v 10, 11 v 7, 6 v 12, 2 v 5, 4 v 3 |
| 5 | 1 v 8, 9 v 7, 10 v 6, 5 v 11, 12 v 4, 3 v 2 |
| 6 | 7 v 1, 8 v 6, 5 v 9, 4 v 10, 11 v 3, 2 v 12 |
| 7 | 6 v 1, 7 v 5, 8 v 4, 9 v 3, 10 v 2, 12 v 11 |
| 8 | 1 v 5, 4 v 6, 3 v 7, 2 v 8, 12 v 9, 10 v 11 |
| 9 | 1 v 4, 5 v 3, 6 v 2, 7 v 12, 8 v 11, 9 v 10 |
| 10 | 3 v 1, 4 v 2, 12 v 5, 11 v 6, 10 v 7, 8 v 9 |
| 11 | 2 v 1, 3 v 12, 4 v 11, 5 v 10, 6 v 9, 7 v 8 |
The rounds come from the circle method, as in Rostara's tournaments: team 1 stays in place and the others move round one place each round, so no pair meets twice and no team plays twice in a round. Home games are shared out so that every team is at home about as often as it is away.
Make it with your own teams
The schedule maker below is set up for 12 teams. Type your team names over Team 1 to Team 12, set the pitches or courts and the kick-off time, and type the scores in as matches finish: the table fills in by itself. To play everyone twice, pick Home and away.
Your tournament
One team per line, from 2 to 32. You can paste the list from your group chat.
Your teams stay on this page. Nothing is sent or saved.
Schedule
Type the scores as matches finish: the table and the next rounds fill in by themselves.
How many matches 12 teams play
| Format | Matches | Rounds | Matches per team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round robin | 66 | 11 | 11 |
| Home and away | 132 | 22 | 22 |
| Knockout | 11 | 4 | 1 to 4 |
A round robin of 12 teams has 12 × 11 ÷ 2 = 66 matches. A knockout always has one match fewer than the number of teams, because every match sends one team home; a third-place match adds one more.
How long it takes
Playing time with 12-minute matches and 3-minute breaks, as the schedule maker starts out. The matches of a round share the pitches, and the next round starts once the whole round is over, so no team plays two matches back to back. Change the minutes in the schedule maker and the time updates as you type.
| Pitches or courts | Round robin | Knockout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 h 27 min | 2 h 57 min |
| 2 | 8 h 12 min | 1 h 27 min |
| 3 | 5 h 27 min | 1 h 27 min |
| 4 | 5 h 27 min | 57 min |
The 12-team knockout bracket
A knockout comes out even with 4, 8 or 16 teams. 12 teams play in a bracket of 16, so teams 1 to 4, the top seeds, go straight to the second round. The seeds are spread through the bracket, so teams 1 and 2 can only meet in the final. For a draw instead of seeds, press Draw the order at random in the schedule maker. The bracket ends with a third-place match between the two losing semi-finalists.
| Round | Matches |
|---|---|
| Round of 16 | Match 1: 8 v 9 Match 2: 5 v 12 Match 3: 7 v 10 Match 4: 6 v 11 Straight to the next round: 1, 4, 2, 3 |
| Quarter-finals | Match 5: 1 v Winner of match 1 Match 6: 4 v Winner of match 2 Match 7: 2 v Winner of match 3 Match 8: 3 v Winner of match 4 |
| Semi-finals | Match 9: Winner of match 5 v Winner of match 6 Match 10: Winner of match 7 v Winner of match 8 |
| Final and third place | Match 11: Loser of match 9 v Loser of match 10 Match 12: Winner of match 9 v Winner of match 10 |
Schedules for other numbers of teams
Every match, round by round, and the knockout bracket for 4 teams · 5 teams · 6 teams · 7 teams · 8 teams · 9 teams · 10 teams · 11 teams
Any number from 2 to 32 teams: the tournament schedule maker
Questions
How many games are in a 12-team round robin?
66. Each of the 12 teams plays the other 11 once, so there are 12 × 11 ÷ 2 = 66 matches. Playing home and away doubles it to 132.
How many rounds does a 12-team round robin take?
11, with 6 matches in each, so every team plays in every round.
How many games does each team play?
11 in a round robin, and 22 home and away. In a knockout it depends on how far a team goes: from 1 to 4.
How many byes does a 12-team bracket need?
4. A knockout comes out even with 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 teams. The next of those above 12 is 16, so 16 − 12 = 4 teams go straight to the second round.
How many games are in a 12-team knockout?
11, or 12 with a third-place match. Every match sends one team home, and one team is left at the end.
