Terms of Service

Last updated: April 20, 2026 Effective date: April 20, 2026

In plain English: Bracket 2026 is a free bracket predictor for entertainment. It is not a gambling service. It is not affiliated with FIFA. Don't cheat, don't abuse the service, and enjoy the tournament.

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using bracket2026.com (the "Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms") and by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated here by reference. If you do not agree with any part of these Terms, do not use the Service.

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. If you are between the ages of 13 and 17 (or the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction), you may use the Service only with the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian.

2. Service Description

Bracket 2026 is an independent, free-to-use bracket predictor for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Service allows users to:

• Create, save, and share predictions for the 2026 tournament.
• Participate in public leaderboards and private, friends-only leagues.
• Export brackets as images or PDFs.
• Read educational content about the 48-team tournament format, group stage, knockout rounds, host cities, and participating teams.

The Service is NOT a gambling platform. No wagers are placed, no money changes hands through Bracket 2026, and no prizes are awarded by Bracket 2026. Any private wagers between users (for example, office pools) are arranged entirely between those users, are not sanctioned or endorsed by Bracket 2026, and are the participating users' sole legal and financial responsibility. You agree that you will not hold Bracket 2026 responsible for any disputes, losses, or legal issues arising from private wagers.

If you want information or help with problem gambling, the National Council on Problem Gambling (US) hotline is 1-800-522-4700, and many countries have equivalent local resources.

3. Independence from FIFA

Bracket 2026 is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, licensed by, or approved by FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, any national football federation, any Organizing Committee of the 2026 World Cup, or any official broadcaster or sponsor of the tournament.

All team names, tournament dates, venues, match schedules, and similar tournament details are referenced on the Service as factual, publicly available information. We do not use FIFA trademarks, logos, emblems, mascots, or proprietary artwork. The phrase "FIFA World Cup 2026" is referenced on the Service only as a factual description of the event, under the principles of nominative fair use.

If you represent FIFA or another rights holder and believe anything on the Service infringes your rights, please contact contact@bracket2026.com and we will respond promptly.

4. User Accounts

You may use the core features of the Service — including creating a bracket, saving it locally in your browser, and sharing it via a link — without creating an account. An account is optional and required only for:

• Saving multiple brackets across devices.
• Creating or joining private, friends-only leagues.
• Appearing on public leaderboards with a custom display name.

If you create an account, you agree to:

• Provide accurate information during registration (we only ask for an email address and, optionally, a display name).
• Maintain the security of your account credentials and any magic-link login emails.
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account.
• Not create multiple accounts in order to manipulate leaderboards, private leagues, or bracket-share counts.
• Not impersonate any other person, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person, team, organization, or country.
• Be responsible for all activity that occurs under your account, whether or not authorized by you.

We reserve the right to suspend, limit, or delete any account that violates these Terms, is reported for abuse, or appears to be operated by an automated bot.

5. User Conduct

You agree NOT to:

• Create multiple accounts to game leaderboards or private leagues ("multi-accounting" or "ballot stuffing").
• Use bots, scrapers, headless browsers, or other automated means to submit brackets, inflate vote totals, or collect data from the Service.
• Submit brackets, league names, or display names that contain offensive content, slurs, threats, harassment, sexual content, or content that infringes any third party's rights.
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, probe, exploit, or disrupt the Service, including by attempting to bypass rate limits, paywalls, or rewarded-video ad placements.
• Use the Service for any illegal purpose or in a way that violates another person's rights.
• Scrape, copy, mirror, or redistribute substantial portions of our content, schedule data, or predictions without written permission.
• Use the Service to distribute malware, phishing links, or spam.
• Use the Service to place real-money wagers, operate a gambling business, or otherwise conduct activity that would require a gambling license in your jurisdiction.

Violations may result in content removal, account suspension, IP-level blocking, and — in serious cases — referral to law enforcement. We may also share abuse reports with Cloudflare, hosting providers, or affected third parties where appropriate.

6. Intellectual Property

6.1 Our Content

The Service — including its design, code, copy, graphics, bracket visualizations, our original analysis, illustrations, and the "Bracket 2026" brand — is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, publicly display, or create derivative works from any of it without our prior written permission, except as expressly permitted by applicable fair-use or fair-dealing provisions.

6.2 Your Content

You retain all ownership rights in the brackets, predictions, display names, league names, and comments you submit to the Service ("Your Content"). By submitting Your Content to a public leaderboard, a shared league, or a shareable link, you grant Bracket 2026 a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, display, reproduce, adapt, and distribute Your Content solely for the purpose of operating and promoting the Service (including in social-media share images generated on demand).

You represent and warrant that Your Content does not infringe on any third party's rights, is lawful, and does not contain prohibited material as described in §5.

6.3 Third-Party References

Team names, country names, player names, and tournament schedule details are factual references. The FIFA World Cup™ is a trademark of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association. We use the term "FIFA World Cup 2026" only to factually describe the event, under the principles of nominative fair use. Any reference to national football associations, leagues, stadiums, or sponsors is descriptive only and does not imply affiliation, endorsement, or sponsorship.

6.4 Copyright Infringement (DMCA)

If you believe that content on the Service infringes your copyright, please send a written notice to contact@bracket2026.com that includes: (a) your signature (electronic is fine); (b) identification of the copyrighted work; (c) the URL of the allegedly infringing material; (d) your contact information; (e) a statement of good-faith belief that the use is not authorized; and (f) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are authorized to act. We will respond in accordance with the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

7. Predictions Are for Entertainment Only

All predictions, statistics, suggested picks, and recommendations on the Service are provided for entertainment and informational purposes only.

• Predictions are not guarantees of match outcomes.
• The Service does not provide financial, betting, or professional advice.
• Do not use predictions as the sole basis for real-money wagers, investment decisions, or any other decision with financial consequences.
• If you choose to gamble on tournament outcomes through a separate, legal gambling operator, do so responsibly and only where legal in your jurisdiction.

8. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FREEDOM FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT:

• The Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free.
• Predictions, scores, standings, or match data will be accurate, complete, or up to date.
• Defects in the Service will be corrected.
• The Service is free of viruses, malware, or other harmful code.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so some of the exclusions above may not apply to you. To the extent a warranty cannot be excluded, it is limited to the minimum duration and scope permitted by applicable law.

9. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, BRACKET 2026, ITS OPERATORS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AND AFFILIATES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATED TO THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS (USD $100) OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

Some jurisdictions do not allow these limitations, and they may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits our liability for fraud, willful misconduct, death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or any other liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Bracket 2026 and its operators, affiliates, employees, and contractors from any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any applicable law; or (d) your violation of any third-party right, including intellectual property, privacy, or publicity rights.

11. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in the State of Delaware, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

For users located in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or Brazil, nothing in these Terms limits your mandatory consumer rights under your local law. Brazilian consumers retain all rights granted by the Código de Defesa do Consumidor (Law 8.078/1990).

12. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, without notice, for any violation of these Terms or for any reason at our sole discretion. You may stop using the Service at any time by simply closing your browser tab, and you may request account deletion at any time.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including §6 (Intellectual Property), §8 (Disclaimers), §9 (Limitation of Liability), §10 (Indemnification), §11 (Governing Law), and any accrued rights and obligations — will survive termination of these Terms.

13. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will announce them via a banner on the Service and, if you have an account, by email. The "Last updated" date at the top of these Terms always reflects the most recent revision.

Your continued use of the Service after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree with any change, your sole remedy is to stop using the Service.

14. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms or would like to report a violation, please contact us:

• Email: contact@bracket2026.com

For privacy-specific questions, see our Privacy Policy. For general information about the team and project, see our About page.

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These Terms are available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. In case of any conflict or inconsistency between versions, the English version prevails.