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Free printable bracket · Double elimination

21 team double elimination bracket

A 21-team double elimination bracket has 40 games, or 41 if the team that comes through the losers bracket wins the grand final, with 11 first-round byes for seeds 1–11.

Twenty-one teams: 11 byes, 5 first-round games, 40 games. Odd counts like this are where a bracket drawn by hand usually goes wrong; this one has the byes where they belong.

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  • 40 +1games, plus a reset final if needed
  • 11first-round byes
  • 5 + 7winners + losers rounds
  • 2–11games per team

The bracket

21 teams, 40 games, every one numbered.

Bracket

Show the bracket as

Winners bracket

Losers bracket

Championship

Winners bracket

First RoundGames 1–5

  1. 116Team 16v.17Team 17
  2. 213Team 13v.20Team 20
  3. 312Team 12v.21Team 21
  4. 415Team 15v.18Team 18
  5. 514Team 14v.19Team 19

Byes1 Team 1 · 8 Team 8 · 9 Team 9 · 4 Team 4 · 5 Team 5 · 2 Team 2 · 7 Team 7 · 10 Team 10 · 3 Team 3 · 6 Team 6 · 11 Team 11

Round of 16Games 6–13

  1. 61Team 1v.Winner of Game 1
  2. 78Team 8v.9Team 9
  3. 84Team 4v.Winner of Game 2
  4. 95Team 5v.Winner of Game 3
  5. 102Team 2v.Winner of Game 4
  6. 117Team 7v.10Team 10
  7. 123Team 3v.Winner of Game 5
  8. 136Team 6v.11Team 11

QuarterfinalsGames 14–17

  1. 14Winner of Game 6v.Winner of Game 7
  2. 15Winner of Game 8v.Winner of Game 9
  3. 16Winner of Game 10v.Winner of Game 11
  4. 17Winner of Game 12v.Winner of Game 13

SemifinalsGames 18–19

  1. 18Winner of Game 14v.Winner of Game 15
  2. 19Winner of Game 16v.Winner of Game 17

FinalGame 20

  1. 20Winner of Game 18v.Winner of Game 19

Losers bracket

Round 2Games 21–25

  1. 21Loser of Game 1v.Loser of Game 9
  2. 22Loser of Game 2v.Loser of Game 7
  3. 23Loser of Game 3v.Loser of Game 6
  4. 24Loser of Game 4v.Loser of Game 13
  5. 25Loser of Game 5v.Loser of Game 11

Round 3Games 26–29

  1. 26Winner of Game 21v.Loser of Game 8
  2. 27Winner of Game 22v.Winner of Game 23
  3. 28Winner of Game 24v.Loser of Game 12
  4. 29Winner of Game 25v.Loser of Game 10

Round 4Games 30–33

  1. 30Winner of Game 26v.Loser of Game 16
  2. 31Winner of Game 27v.Loser of Game 17
  3. 32Winner of Game 28v.Loser of Game 14
  4. 33Winner of Game 29v.Loser of Game 15

Round 5Games 34–35

  1. 34Winner of Game 30v.Winner of Game 31
  2. 35Winner of Game 32v.Winner of Game 33

Round 6Games 36–37

  1. 36Winner of Game 34v.Loser of Game 18
  2. 37Winner of Game 35v.Loser of Game 19

Round 7Game 38

  1. 38Winner of Game 36v.Winner of Game 37

FinalGame 39

  1. 39Winner of Game 38v.Loser of Game 20

Championship

Grand FinalGame 40

  1. 40Winner of Game 20v.Winner of Game 39

Reset FinalGame 41

  1. 41Winners bracket championv.Losers bracket championPlayed only if the losers-bracket champion wins Game 40.

Byes

Where the byes go.

The bracket is drawn on a 32-team frame, which leaves 11 empty slots in round one. They go to the top of the draw: seeds 1–11 skip round one and start in round two (Games 6–13). Round one is 5 games between the lower seeds.

A bye isn't a win on the record. TourneyPage advances the bye teams automatically, so the page never shows a game that doesn't exist. The losers bracket inherits the gaps: a team that drops in from round one may advance without playing until the next losers round, because the opponent it was due to meet never lost a round-one game.

Game order

All 40 games in play order, and the reset final.

  1. Game 1Winners First RoundTeam 16 vs Team 17Winner plays Team 1 in Game 6. Loser drops to Game 21.
  2. Game 2Winners First RoundTeam 13 vs Team 20Winner plays Team 4 in Game 8. Loser drops to Game 22.
  3. Game 3Winners First RoundTeam 12 vs Team 21Winner plays Team 5 in Game 9. Loser drops to Game 23.
  4. Game 4Winners First RoundTeam 15 vs Team 18Winner plays Team 2 in Game 10. Loser drops to Game 24.
  5. Game 5Winners First RoundTeam 14 vs Team 19Winner plays Team 3 in Game 12. Loser drops to Game 25.
  6. Game 6Winners Round of 16Team 1 vs Winner of Game 1Winner plays the Game 7 winner in Game 14. Loser drops to Game 23.
  7. Game 7Winners Round of 16Team 8 vs Team 9Winner plays the Game 6 winner in Game 14. Loser drops to Game 22.
  8. Game 8Winners Round of 16Team 4 vs Winner of Game 2Winner plays the Game 9 winner in Game 15. Loser drops to Game 26.
  9. Game 9Winners Round of 16Team 5 vs Winner of Game 3Winner plays the Game 8 winner in Game 15. Loser drops to Game 21.
  10. Game 10Winners Round of 16Team 2 vs Winner of Game 4Winner plays the Game 11 winner in Game 16. Loser drops to Game 29.
  11. Game 11Winners Round of 16Team 7 vs Team 10Winner plays the Game 10 winner in Game 16. Loser drops to Game 25.
  12. Game 12Winners Round of 16Team 3 vs Winner of Game 5Winner plays the Game 13 winner in Game 17. Loser drops to Game 28.
  13. Game 13Winners Round of 16Team 6 vs Team 11Winner plays the Game 12 winner in Game 17. Loser drops to Game 24.
  14. Game 14Winners QuarterfinalsWinner of Game 6 vs Winner of Game 7Winner plays the Game 15 winner in Game 18. Loser drops to Game 32.
  15. Game 15Winners QuarterfinalsWinner of Game 8 vs Winner of Game 9Winner plays the Game 14 winner in Game 18. Loser drops to Game 33.
  16. Game 16Winners QuarterfinalsWinner of Game 10 vs Winner of Game 11Winner plays the Game 17 winner in Game 19. Loser drops to Game 30.
  17. Game 17Winners QuarterfinalsWinner of Game 12 vs Winner of Game 13Winner plays the Game 16 winner in Game 19. Loser drops to Game 31.
  18. Game 18Winners SemifinalsWinner of Game 14 vs Winner of Game 15Winner plays the Game 19 winner in Game 20. Loser drops to Game 36.
  19. Game 19Winners SemifinalsWinner of Game 16 vs Winner of Game 17Winner plays the Game 18 winner in Game 20. Loser drops to Game 37.
  20. Game 20Winners FinalWinner of Game 18 vs Winner of Game 19Winner plays the Game 39 winner for the title in Game 40. Loser drops to Game 39.
  21. Game 21Losers Round 2Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 9Winner plays the Game 8 loser in Game 26.
  22. Game 22Losers Round 2Loser of Game 2 vs Loser of Game 7Winner plays the Game 23 winner in Game 27.
  23. Game 23Losers Round 2Loser of Game 3 vs Loser of Game 6Winner plays the Game 22 winner in Game 27.
  24. Game 24Losers Round 2Loser of Game 4 vs Loser of Game 13Winner plays the Game 12 loser in Game 28.
  25. Game 25Losers Round 2Loser of Game 5 vs Loser of Game 11Winner plays the Game 10 loser in Game 29.
  26. Game 26Losers Round 3Winner of Game 21 vs Loser of Game 8Winner plays the Game 16 loser in Game 30.
  27. Game 27Losers Round 3Winner of Game 22 vs Winner of Game 23Winner plays the Game 17 loser in Game 31.
  28. Game 28Losers Round 3Winner of Game 24 vs Loser of Game 12Winner plays the Game 14 loser in Game 32.
  29. Game 29Losers Round 3Winner of Game 25 vs Loser of Game 10Winner plays the Game 15 loser in Game 33.
  30. Game 30Losers Round 4Winner of Game 26 vs Loser of Game 16Winner plays the Game 31 winner in Game 34.
  31. Game 31Losers Round 4Winner of Game 27 vs Loser of Game 17Winner plays the Game 30 winner in Game 34.
  32. Game 32Losers Round 4Winner of Game 28 vs Loser of Game 14Winner plays the Game 33 winner in Game 35.
  33. Game 33Losers Round 4Winner of Game 29 vs Loser of Game 15Winner plays the Game 32 winner in Game 35.
  34. Game 34Losers Round 5Winner of Game 30 vs Winner of Game 31Winner plays the Game 18 loser in Game 36.
  35. Game 35Losers Round 5Winner of Game 32 vs Winner of Game 33Winner plays the Game 19 loser in Game 37.
  36. Game 36Losers Round 6Winner of Game 34 vs Loser of Game 18Winner plays the Game 37 winner in Game 38.
  37. Game 37Losers Round 6Winner of Game 35 vs Loser of Game 19Winner plays the Game 36 winner in Game 38.
  38. Game 38Losers Round 7Winner of Game 36 vs Winner of Game 37Winner plays the Game 20 loser in Game 39.
  39. Game 39Losers FinalWinner of Game 38 vs Loser of Game 20Winner plays the Game 20 winner for the title in Game 40.
  40. Game 40Grand FinalWinner of Game 20 vs Winner of Game 39
  41. Game 41Reset FinalWinners bracket champion vs Losers bracket championPlayed only if the losers-bracket champion wins Game 40.

How long it takes

Roughly how long a 21-team double elimination day runs.

About 16 hours 40 minutes. 40 games in 20 rounds of play across 2 fields.

Arithmetic, not a schedule: it ignores breaks and assumes every field stays busy. In TourneyPage you type the actual times and courts, and they show on the page.

Printable

Print it, or make it live.

21 team double elimination bracket drawn as lines, with every game numbered

The PDF is US Letter, landscape, with seed numbers on blank lines so you can write the teams in, one page each for the winners bracket, the losers bracket, and the final. Free, no sign-up, nothing on it but the bracket and this page's address.

Or skip the clipboard. The live version has the same bracket with the team names in, scores entered from a phone, standings that update, and the next games on top. Free to build and preview; $29 one-time to publish, for up to 32 teams per division.

Download the PDFMake this bracket live

Questions

Questions about a 21-team double elimination bracket.

How many games are in a 21 team double elimination bracket?

40, or 41 with the reset final. Every team except the champion loses twice, so 21 teams produce 40 games. The reset final happens only if the team from the losers bracket beats the winners-bracket champion in the grand final, which puts them at one loss each. TourneyPage lets you turn the reset off.

How do the byes work with 21 teams?

The bracket is drawn on a 32-team frame, so 11 first-round slots stay empty. Seeds 1–11 skip round one and start in round two. A bye isn't a win on the record; the team just plays one game fewer on the way to the title.

How many games does each team play?

At least 2: two losses and you're out, so even the first team eliminated plays twice. The longest road is 11 games, for a team that loses early in the winners bracket, wins every losers-bracket game, takes the grand final, and then the reset.

How long does a 21 team double elimination tournament take?

About 16 hours 40 minutes with 40 games at 50 minutes each on 2 fields. Change the game length and the number of fields above to match your event. TourneyPage doesn't schedule the games for you; you type the times and courts you decide on, and they show on the page.

Can I print this bracket or run it live?

Both. The PDF is free, with no sign-up. "Make this bracket live" opens the TourneyPage builder with double elimination already chosen for your 21 teams; you add their names, preview the page free, and pay $29 once to publish a link everyone can open on their phone.

Other sizes

Double elimination brackets for 4 to 32 teams.

← 20-team double elimination22-team double elimination →

How double elimination works · Games, rounds, and byes for every format and size · Sports that usually run it: Cornhole, 3v3 basketball

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