Last updated: June 2026

Welcome to WC Bracket Challenge ("the Site"), a free-to-play bracket prediction platform for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. By accessing or using this site, you agree to these Terms of Use.

1. Eligibility. You must be at least 13 years old to use this site. By using it, you confirm you meet this requirement.

2. No Entry Fee / No Prize. WC Bracket Challenge is entirely free to play. No money is wagered and no cash prizes are offered. This is a social competition for fun among friends.

3. Account Responsibility. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity under your account. Please use a strong password and don't share your login.

4. Acceptable Use. You agree not to: use the site for any commercial purpose; attempt to hack, scrape, or abuse the platform; create accounts on behalf of others without their consent; or post offensive usernames or bracket names.

5. Data Accuracy. Live scores, results, and points are sourced from third-party APIs and calculated automatically. While we strive for accuracy, we cannot guarantee scores or point calculations are always 100% correct. The commissioner retains the right to manually adjust results in case of API errors.

6. Service Availability. We make no guarantees about uptime or availability. The site may be taken down or modified at any time without notice.

7. Limitation of Liability. WC Bracket Challenge is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. We are not liable for any loss, damage, or disappointment resulting from use of this site, including incorrect scores or points calculations.

8. Intellectual Property. All team names, logos, and FIFA World Cup marks are property of their respective owners. We claim no ownership over any football federation's intellectual property.

9. Changes. We may update these terms at any time. Continued use of the site constitutes acceptance of any changes.

Questions? Email us at the address on the About page.

Last updated: June 2026

WC Bracket Challenge ("we", "us") takes your privacy seriously. This policy explains what data we collect and how we use it.

What we collect:

• Email address (used for account login and password reset only)
• Name and username (displayed in leaderboards and to league members)
• Your bracket picks and predictions

What we do NOT collect:

• Payment information (we don't charge anything)
• Location data
• Device identifiers or tracking cookies
• Behavioral analytics or ad tracking

How we use your data: Your data is used solely to operate the bracket challenge — to authenticate you, display your picks, calculate your points, and show your name on leaderboards within your leagues.

Who we share it with: Nobody. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with any third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.

Data storage: Your data is stored securely on Supabase (supabase.com), a PostgreSQL cloud database. Supabase's own privacy policy applies to their infrastructure.

Third-party services: Live score data is provided by API-Football (api-sports.io). News summaries are generated via the Anthropic Claude API. These services process data subject to their own privacy policies.

Data retention: We retain your data for as long as you have an account. You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time by contacting us.

Your rights: You have the right to access, correct, or delete any personal data we hold about you. To exercise these rights, use the Settings page or contact us directly.

Children: This site is not directed at children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Contact: For any privacy questions, reach us through the About page.

Live Score Data

Live scores, match results, and goal scorer information are sourced from the API-Football service (v3.football.api-sports.io). While this data is generally accurate and updates in near real-time, we cannot guarantee it is always correct, complete, or delivered without delay.

Points Calculation

Points are calculated automatically by comparing your bracket picks against official match results as reported by the API. In rare cases, API errors, delayed updates, or data discrepancies may cause points to be temporarily incorrect. The league commissioner has the ability to manually review and correct any scores or points if needed.

First Goal Scorer

First goal scorer picks are matched against goal event data from the API. Player name matching is automated and case-insensitive. If a player's name is entered differently from how the API records it (e.g. abbreviated name vs. full name), the match may not be detected. In such cases, the commissioner can manually award points.

VAR & Disallowed Goals

If a goal is scored and then disallowed by VAR, the API may temporarily show incorrect scorer data. Points are only finalized once the match status is marked as completed (FT).

Not Affiliated with FIFA

WC Bracket Challenge is an independent fan project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to FIFA, any national football federation, or any of the 48 participating nations. All team names, tournament marks, and related intellectual property belong to their respective owners.

News Content

News summaries on the Home page are generated by the Anthropic Claude AI model using real-time web search. These summaries are AI-generated and may not always be fully accurate. Always refer to the linked original source for the full story.

Every four years, Tom gets competitive about the World Cup. Not just watch-it-on-TV competitive — we're talking spreadsheet-at-3am competitive. For 2026, he decided enough was enough. The old group chat picks-in-a-notes-app system wasn't cutting it. He wanted something real. Something with a leaderboard. Something that actually tracked points.

So he sat down with Claude — Anthropic's AI assistant — and said, essentially: "Build me a World Cup bracket challenge app. Make it look good. Give it leagues, scoring, live scores, the works. Oh, and I want first goal scorer picks too."

What followed was one of the most ambitious one-night coding sessions in bracket challenge history. Over the course of a single evening, Tom drove the vision — every feature, every rule, every UI decision — while Claude wrote the code. Group stage tables? Done. A mirrored knockout bracket with pitch-stripe backgrounds and a golden glowing Finals box? Done. Wildcard tiebreakers? Obviously. Live scores from a football API with automated point calculations the moment a match ends? Eventually done (it took a few API plans to get there).

The result is what you're looking at right now: a full-stack bracket challenge platform, built from scratch in a single conversation, deployed on Netlify with a Supabase backend, pulling live World Cup data from api-football.com and AI-powered news from Claude itself.

Tech stack, for the nerds:
Frontend: Single-file HTML/CSS/JS (yes, really — it's enormous) · Backend: Supabase (PostgreSQL) · Auth: Supabase Auth · Hosting: Netlify with serverless functions · Live scores: API-Football Pro · News: Anthropic Claude API with web search · Built by: Tom (vision, product, QA) + Claude (every single line of code)

No prior web development experience required on Tom's part. Just a clear idea of what he wanted, a lot of "can you also add..." messages, and the patience to debug CORS errors at 10pm.

We hope you enjoy playing as much as we enjoyed building it. May your picks be correct, your wildcards advance, and your first goal scorer hit the net in the first minute.

WC Bracket Challenge · Built June 2026 · footybrackets.net
Not affiliated with FIFA or any football federation.
Questions or issues? Find Tom in your league.