How many matches are in an 8-team bracket?

Seven: four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and one final. If you add a third-place match it becomes eight.

What are the first-round pairings?

With standard seeding: 1 vs 8, 4 vs 5, 2 vs 7 and 3 vs 6. You can turn seeding off to pair teams in the order you typed them.

Can I run 8 teams as a round robin instead?

Yes. Switch the format to round robin and you get 28 matches over 7 rounds, with a results matrix, a standings table and a fixture schedule you can export as CSV.

8-team bracket

Eight teams, seven matches, three rounds. The classic quarter-final, semi-final, final shape — pre-filled with the standard seeding order and ready to print.

BracketBee

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Editing is designed for desktop. On this screen you can view the bracket; open the tools below if you need to change something.

Teams 8Matches 7Rounds 3Results entered 0Scheduled 0/7Drag to pan · scroll to zoom

Click anywhere outside this panel, or press Esc, to close it.

Display

Show seed badgesScores, date and venue

Format

Seeds are spread so the strongest teams meet as late as possible.

Watermark

Watermark text

We never add a watermark to your image. Whatever you type here is what appears — placed against the corners of the exported image.

Opacity 45%

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Teams

One team per line. Commas and tabs also work. Order = seed order.

Team count

Teams: 8
Bracket size: 8

Seed order

Show seed badges

Seeded bracket (1 vs last, 2 vs second last, …)

Seeds are spread so the strongest teams meet as late as possible.

Rethink the order? Shuffle the list at random. The draw is the list itself, so you can still tweak it afterwards.

Third-place match (3rd vs 4th)

Adds one extra match between the two semi-final losers.

1Team 01
2Team 02
3Team 03
4Team 04
5Team 05
6Team 06
7Team 07
8Team 08

Moving teams keeps first-round results; later rounds reset.

Share link

Anyone with the link sees the same bracket. No account, nothing uploaded to a server.

Everything stays editable: type your own team names, set scores and dates, then export the bracket as an image — a PNG in three sizes, no watermark.

How an 8-team bracket works

Eight teams fill the bracket exactly, so there are no byes: 7 matches across three rounds (quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final). Four quarter-finals produce four winners, two semi-finals produce two, and the final decides it.

Seeding follows the standard order so the strongest teams are kept apart: 1 vs 8, 4 vs 5, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6. That means seeds 1 and 2 can only meet in the final, and seeds 1 and 4 only in the semi-finals.

Single elimination or round robin?

An 8-team knockout is 7 matches and can be finished in an afternoon. If your teams came a long way, a round robin is 28 matches over 7 rounds — more games per team, but it needs a league-style schedule.

A middle ground many organisers use: knock out to decide the winner, then add a third-place match so the two beaten semi-finalists get one more game. BracketBee adds it with a single toggle.

Make it yours

Add a tournament title and subtitle, enter scores and dates, and pick a background (paper, court or night). Export a square PNG for social posts, or landscape for the venue wall.

If the bracket is still being played, copy the share link and keep entering results on a phone at the venue.

Frequently asked questions

How many matches are in an 8-team bracket?: Seven: four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and one final. If you add a third-place match it becomes eight.
What are the first-round pairings?: With standard seeding: 1 vs 8, 4 vs 5, 2 vs 7 and 3 vs 6. You can turn seeding off to pair teams in the order you typed them.
Can I run 8 teams as a round robin instead?: Yes. Switch the format to round robin and you get 28 matches over 7 rounds, with a results matrix, a standings table and a fixture schedule you can export as CSV.