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Tournament brackets, single elimination

26 team bracket single elimination, printable

A blank 26 team bracket on one page: seeds on the first lines, byes for the top 6 seeds, every game numbered, and the champion's line.

26 teams25 games5 roundsByes: seeds 1 to 6

Tournament Bracket

26 teams · single elimination

Byes: seeds 1–6

Write each winner on the next line

Round 1Games 1–10

Round 2Games 11–18

QuarterfinalsGames 19–22

SemifinalsGames 23–24

FinalGame 25

16
17
8
25
9
24
13
20
12
21
15
18
7
26
10
23
14
19
11
22
1
4
5
2
3
6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Champion

Tournament

Date

Place

Updated October 28, 2026. Scan the code for this sheet blank, or any other size.

printdates.com/brackets/26-team-single-elimination

26 team single elimination bracket, blank, every game numbered, on one printable page
The printed page, as the PDF prints it. Save to Pinterest

How a 26 team bracket works

A 26 team single elimination bracket has 25 games over 5 rounds: 10 in round 1, 8 in round 2, 4 quarterfinals, 2 semifinals and the final. Lose once and you're out; the last team left is the champion.

26 teams don't fill a bracket of 32, so 6 teams get a bye: seeds 1 to 6 skip the first round and start in round 2. The first round is 10 games: 7 v 26, 8 v 25, 9 v 24, 10 v 23, 11 v 22, 12 v 21, 13 v 20, 14 v 19, 15 v 18 and 16 v 17.

Every game has a number on the sheet, in an order it can be played, so a schedule can say “game 3 at 2:00 on court 1.” Write each winner on the line the game leads to.

Running the tournament

One sheet from the first game to the champion.

  1. Seed the teamsBest first: seed 1 on the top line. Type them beside the sheet to print them, or shuffle the list for a random draw.
  2. Print and post itOne copy on the wall for everyone, or one each for a bracket pool. The PDF is always blank.
  3. Play the games in orderThe numbers are an order that works: each game's teams are known before it starts.
  4. Write in each winnerOn the line the game leads to.

Good to know

How many games are in a 26 team bracket?

25. Every game puts one team out, and every team but the champion goes out once.

Who gets a bye?

The top 6 seeds. 26 teams fill a 32 line bracket only with 6 byes, and each goes to the best seed left, so no bye meets another and every first-round game is real.

How do you seed a bracket?

Best team first, by last season, a ranking or pool play: seed 1 on the top line, then down the list. Seed 1 and seed 2 are placed so they can meet only in the final. No ranking? Shuffle the list for a random draw.

Is there a third-place game?

Not on the sheet, but it's easy to add: the two semifinal losers play once more. Write it in on the back, or play a double elimination bracket (up to 16 teams) instead, where every team plays at least twice.

Can I fill it in on screen?

Type the teams beside the sheet and they print on it, shrunk to fit their lines; the tournament's name goes on the sheet too. They stay on this device for next time. “Print blank” prints it without them, and the PDF is always blank.