What are seeding pots and do I need them?

A pot draw stops the strong entries landing in the same group. Rank your list best to worst, and the tool takes the top few as pot one and puts exactly one of them in each group, then does the same with pot two, and so on. It is how the World Cup group draw works. If your entries are all of a similar standard, a straight random draw is fine and simpler to explain.

Does an uneven number still work?

Yes. If the entries do not divide evenly the remainder is spread one at a time across the earliest groups, so the sizes never differ by more than one. Eleven people into three groups gives you four, four and three rather than five, three and three.

Is the draw actually random?

It uses a Fisher-Yates shuffle, which gives every arrangement an equal chance. Draw it again and you get a different result. If you want a draw nobody can argue with, do it once with everyone watching and share the link, because the link carries that exact result.

Can I use this to pick teams rather than groups?

Yes, that is the same operation. Splitting twenty names into four groups and splitting them into four teams of five is the same draw. Use the pots option if you want the good players spread evenly rather than bunched together.

What happens after the draw?

Nothing, on this page. It hands you the groups and stops. If you want each group to then play a round robin, the round robin generator will build those fixtures. If you want people making predictions on real fixtures with automatic scoring, that is a Fanzava competition.

Free tool

Draw and groups generator.

Split any list into random groups or teams. Turn on seeding pots and the strong entries spread out instead of bunching. Print it, export it, or send the link so everyone sees the same draw.

Entries, one per line

2 to 256 entries.

Split by

How many groups

Seeding

Draw name, optional

Paste, choose, draw.

Paste your list.

Names, teams, clubs, departments. One per line, up to 256. If you are using pots, put them in order best to worst.
Say how you want it split.

Either a number of groups, or a size per group. The tool works out the other one and spreads any remainder so group sizes never differ by more than one.
Draw it in front of people.

Hit draw once, with everyone watching, then copy the link. The link carries that exact result, so there is nothing to argue about afterwards.

Getting a draw people accept.

Pots beat pure randomness when standard varies.

A straight random draw can put your four best entries in the same group and make the other three groups meaningless. Pots fix that by taking the ranked list in bands and dealing one from each band into every group. The draw is still random within each band.

Remainders go to the earliest groups.

When the numbers do not divide evenly, the extras are dealt one at a time from group one onwards. Sizes stay within one of each other, which is the only version people accept as fair.

Draw once, in public.

The temptation is to redraw until it looks right. That is the fastest way to lose the room. Draw it live, share the link straight away, and the result is settled.

A draw is not a fixture list.

This tells you who is in which group. It does not tell you who plays whom or when. Feed each group into the round robin generator for that, or run the whole thing as a live competition.

Turn the draw into a competition.

Fanzava groups work the same way, except they last a whole season. Department against department, branch against branch, with a live leaderboard for each group and the whole thing under your brand.

See the platform →

Questions about draws.

What are seeding pots and do I need them?: A pot draw stops the strong entries landing in the same group. Rank your list best to worst, and the tool takes the top few as pot one and puts exactly one of them in each group, then does the same with pot two, and so on. It is how the World Cup group draw works. If your entries are all of a similar standard, a straight random draw is fine and simpler to explain.
Does an uneven number still work?: Yes. If the entries do not divide evenly the remainder is spread one at a time across the earliest groups, so the sizes never differ by more than one. Eleven people into three groups gives you four, four and three rather than five, three and three.
Is the draw actually random?: It uses a Fisher-Yates shuffle, which gives every arrangement an equal chance. Draw it again and you get a different result. If you want a draw nobody can argue with, do it once with everyone watching and share the link, because the link carries that exact result.
Can I use this to pick teams rather than groups?: Yes, that is the same operation. Splitting twenty names into four groups and splitting them into four teams of five is the same draw. Use the pots option if you want the good players spread evenly rather than bunched together.
What happens after the draw?: Nothing, on this page. It hands you the groups and stops. If you want each group to then play a round robin, the round robin generator will build those fixtures. If you want people making predictions on real fixtures with automatic scoring, that is a Fanzava competition.

Draw and groups generator.

Paste, choose, draw.

Paste your list.

Say how you want it split.

Draw it in front of people.