Draw teams into groups – fair group draw with pots
Learn how to draw teams, create seeding pots, and run a fair group draw without debates.
Ideal for club, school, and hobby tournaments.
Quick summary
At a glance
Group draw without arguments
Sort teams into pots by strength
Distribute teams into groups fairly and transparently
Ready to use in the tournament generator
What does drawing teams mean?
A draw assigns teams randomly to groups. That creates balanced groups without favoritism.
Why draw teams?
The problem
Without a clear rule, discussions start quickly: who goes in which group and why?
The solution
With pots and a random draw, each group gets one team from each pot. That keeps the tournament fair and the group draw transparent.
Pots / seeding list explained
Pots are strength categories. You rank teams by performance so favorites don't end up in the same group. If you lack ratings, use random or rough grouping.
Mini example
Pot 1 = favorites, Pot 2 = strong teams, Pot 3 = balanced, Pot 4 = underdogs.
How the fair draw works
Rate teams
Create a seeding list by performance, league level, or last year's finish.
Build pots
Split teams evenly into pots (e.g., 4 pots with 4 teams).
Set groups
Decide the number of groups and check that each group can take one team per pot.
Draw randomly
Draw one team from each pot for every group, one pot at a time.
Example: 16 teams, 4 groups, 4 pots
Each group gets one team from pots 1–4. That keeps the group draw balanced.
Group A
- Pot 1: Team 1
- Pot 2: Team 5
- Pot 3: Team 9
- Pot 4: Team 13
Group B
- Pot 1: Team 2
- Pot 2: Team 6
- Pot 3: Team 10
- Pot 4: Team 14
Group C
- Pot 1: Team 3
- Pot 2: Team 7
- Pot 3: Team 11
- Pot 4: Team 15
Group D
- Pot 1: Team 4
- Pot 2: Team 8
- Pot 3: Team 12
- Pot 4: Team 16
Fairness & avoid common mistakes
Keep the draw transparent, even in edge cases.
Odd number of teams
Plan byes or a smaller group and communicate the rule in advance.
Too many groups
If a group can't take one team per pot, adjust pots or reduce groups.
No performance data
Use random or rough grouping (e.g., league, age, previous season).
Separate same clubs
Optionally place teams from the same club into different groups.
Frequently asked questions
Start your group draw now
Create your tournament, set pots, and distribute teams in minutes.