One nation per matchday, each country used once, last player standing won. Here is how the 2026 tournament game worked, and where to play next
Entries for the 2026 tournament game are closed, with the final on 19 July. The good news: the Premier League returns on Friday 21 August 2026 and our new-season Last Man Standing game runs all the way to May 2027, same format with 38 rounds rather than the World Cup's 8 rounds
Each matchday you backed one nation to win. Win and you went through. Draw or lose in the groups and you were out. The catch: every country could only be used once all tournament. Way better than a sweepstake where you were stuck with a random team
£20 got you in for the whole tournament
One nation per matchday, each usable only once
Winning kept you in, with one £10 buy back in the groups
Last one standing took the pot, shared on a tie
One pick a matchday, each nation usable once
Groups: your team had to win, a draw was out
Knockouts: whoever progressed counted, so extra time and pens were fine
Miss the deadline and you were eliminated
One £10 buy back in the group stage for a second life
48 nations, USA, Canada and Mexico, 11 Jun to 19 Jul
12 groups (A to L), three group matchdays each
Round of 32 onwards was straight knockout
Save the favourites and do not waste Brazil or France on day one
Hunt mismatches like a big side against a minnow on matchday one
Dodge dead rubbers where qualified teams rotate and switch off
Plan ahead and know who you are saving for the knockouts
The 2026 format was eight rounds: three group-stage matchdays, then the Round of 32, Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. Eight picks, no nation used twice. With 48 teams in the pool you never ran short on names, but you could absolutely run short on good names, because by the semi-finals only four nations were left and you may have burned all of them already
Matchday one was the easiest board of the tournament. Every favourite was fresh and the mismatches were everywhere, so taking a strong second-tier side beating a minnow and banking the giants paid off. Matchday two was where form showed: teams that won their opener tended to be settled, while anyone who lost was under pressure to chase the game. Matchday three was the trap round. Sides that had already qualified rotated their squads and played out dead rubbers, so a big name on paper could be a weakened eleven in practice
From the Round of 32 the maths flipped. Only winners survived, extra time and penalties counted, and your remaining pool shrank with the tournament. The players who reached the final weekend were the ones who kept two or three heavyweights unused through the groups. Deciding before matchday one which nations you were saving, and only breaking the plan if the draw forced you to, was the lasting lesson
A World Cup sweepstake handed you one random nation at the start and that was your whole tournament. Draw Scotland in the office sweep and your World Cup was effectively over by the group stage. There was no skill and nothing to do after the draw
A survivor pool is the American name for the same family of game as Last Man Standing: pick one team per round, survive if they win, eliminated if they do not. If you have played an NFL survivor pool, you already know how this works
Last Man Standing gave you a live decision every matchday. You weighed form, fixtures and your remaining pool, and one bold pick could outlast fifty safe ones. It was the difference between watching the World Cup and playing it
World Cup Last Man Standing is a prediction game for the 2026 World Cup where you pick one nation to win each matchday. You can only use each nation once for the whole tournament. If your pick wins, you survive to the next round. If they lose or draw, you are eliminated. The last player standing wins the prize
A sweepstake draws you a random team and you are stuck with it. Last Man Standing is a game of skill: you choose a different nation every matchday based on form, fixtures, and who you want to save for later. It keeps you involved for the whole tournament instead of being knocked out when your one random team goes home
The FIFA World Cup 2026 runs from 11 June to 19 July 2026 across the USA, Canada and Mexico, with 48 nations competing. Our Last Man Standing competition follows the tournament from the group stage through the knockouts
Entry was £20 for the 2026 World Cup competition, with a guaranteed minimum prize pot and one £10 buy back available in the group stage. Entries for this edition are now closed, but the Premier League 2026/27 game runs on the same format from 21 August
Yes. In the group stage a draw eliminates you, just like a loss, so a 0-0 is no good to you. In the knockout rounds the result after extra time and penalties is what counts, so your nation only needs to progress to keep you alive
In knockout matches the team that progresses is treated as the winner, so if your nation wins on penalties or after extra time you survive. Only the side that is knocked out of the tournament counts as a loss for your pick