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This guide explains everything about prediction deadlines: when they happen, what they look like in the app, and what to do when a matchup hasn’t been decided yet.

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The three states a prediction can be in

When you open a pool, every game (group stage or knockout) shows one of three states:

Pending

The matchup isn’t decided yet. One or both teams are TBD. You’ll be able to predict once earlier games confirm who plays who.

Open

You can submit or edit your prediction.

Locked

The deadline has passed. Your prediction (if any) is final.
Each game in your predictions list has a clear visual indicator showing which state it’s in.

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When does each game lock?

That depends on what your pool’s organizer chose when setting it up. Pools have one of these settings:

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Per Match

Each game locks at its own kickoff. You can predict right up until the moment the game starts.

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Stage Start

All games in a stage lock at the same time — when the stage’s first game kicks off. So when the first group game starts, every group prediction locks together.

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Custom

All games in a stage lock on a specific date the organizer chose. You’ll see the exact date at the top of the stage in your predictions screen.

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Cascading Bracket

Your pool has one bracket-wide deadline for all knockout predictions. By default it’s set to the kickoff of the first knockout game. (Cascading Bracket pools work very differently — keep reading.)
Not sure what your pool uses? Open the pool’s home screen — the lock mode is shown at the top of the predictions tab, along with the next upcoming deadline.

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Cascading Bracket pools

If your pool is a Cascading Bracket pool, you’ll see this prominently on its home screen. The experience is different enough from regular pools that it gets its own section.

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How predicting the bracket works

You predict the entire knockout bracket in one go, before any knockout game kicks off. You pick a winner and a scoreline for each R32 matchup; that winner automatically appears in your R16 matchup; your R16 winner cascades to your QF slot; and so on through the final. Score predictions are required at every round, just like in any other Toqui mode. The cascade only controls which matchup appears in each downstream slot — you still pick a scoreline for it.

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What if I change my mind about an earlier pick?

If you change an R32 pick after you’ve already filled in R16, the R16 slot that depended on it gets cleared so you can re-pick. We do this because the matchup you originally predicted no longer makes sense — the team isn’t there anymore. You can keep changing your mind right up until the bracket deadline. After the deadline, your bracket is final.

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When does the bracket lock?

At the kickoff of the first knockout game. Once that game starts, your entire bracket is frozen — no more changes to any pick, in any round.
This is a single deadline for every knockout pick — R32 through the final. If you miss it, you can’t predict any knockout games for the rest of the tournament.

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Why some matchups are TBD

Knockout matchups depend on earlier results. Until those results are in, the matchup shows as TBD and you can’t predict it yet. We confirm matchups 2 hours after each feeding game ends. The delay gives our data provider time to verify the official result before we update your bracket. So if a group game ends at 10pm, the knockout slots that depend on it become predictable around midnight.

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The transition window — when timing gets tight

The tightest moment in any tournament is the transition from group to knockout. Here’s what a typical World Cup transition looks like: 
 June 27                                    June 28
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 ~7pm        ~10pm     midnight                    12pm
  │            │          │                          │
  ▼            ▼          ▼                          ▼
 Last        Game       Last R32                   Bracket
 group       ends       matchups                   deadline +
 game                   confirm                    first R32
 kicks off              (2h after                  kicks off
                        game end)
If you’re in a Cascading Bracket pool, you have from midnight to noon — roughly 12 hours — to finalize any bracket slots that depended on that last group game. Most of that is overnight, so plan to be online the morning of the first R32 day and finalize before noon. If you’re in a non-cascading pool, you have the same midnight-to-noon window for those specific games, but missing it only costs you those games — the rest of your stage predictions are unaffected.
We send notifications 24 hours before bracket deadlines and stage starts so you don’t have to remember every date yourself. Just don’t rely on them as your only safety net.

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FAQ

Any predictions you submitted before the deadline still count. Games you didn’t predict simply earn zero points for those games — there’s no penalty to your overall score beyond the missed opportunity.
We wait 2 hours after a feeding game ends before updating the matchup. The delay lets our data provider confirm the official result. If it’s been longer than 2 hours and the slot is still TBD, refresh — the update may have just landed.
Yes, anytime before its lock. Your most recent submission is what counts.
Organizers can adjust rules until the first match of the tournament kicks off. Your existing predictions stay, but any new deadlines will apply from the moment of the change.