The Basics

Football Pontoon is a game for enjoying alongside the 2026 men's football World Cup. Get as close to 21 as you can — like the card game, but with football goals.

How to Play

• Pick exactly 4 teams before the deadline
• Every goal your teams score counts toward your total
• Get as close to 21 as possible without going over

What Counts

• Goals in normal time (90 mins) — YES
• Goals in extra time — YES
• Penalty shootout goals — NO
• Own goals count for the OPPOSING team

Winning & Losing

• Winner: closest to 21 without going over
• Bust: go over 21 and you're out
• Stuck: all your teams eliminated
• Tiebreaker: every tie is settled by who got there first. As the goals are scored across the tournament, the player who reaches a total earliest places above anyone who later matches it — so being level on goals isn't level if someone hit that score before you
• Wooden Spoon: there's always one: the most goals (the biggest bust) if anyone's gone over, otherwise the fewest goals. Shared only if the tied picks were identical

If everyone busts

Most hands go bust in a high-scoring tournament, and that's fine while anyone can still win or the wooden-spoon race is alive. But if every player in your league goes over 21, the title race is settled. At that point the admin can start a Reset: a parallel board that counts goals only from a knockout round of their choosing — the Round of 32 by default, up to the Semi-final. Same players, same four teams, same chase to 21, just from the business end. The Original league keeps running right alongside it, it needs the whole group's agreement, and it's offered until the final kicks off.

What a game looks like

Once the tournament kicks off, your game becomes a live table — closest to 21 on top, anyone who's gone bust at the bottom, updated as the goals go in. Here's a fictional one to show the idea.