How to use it
- In Teams, write each team on its own line as name | pot | country.
- Give every team a pot number, where 1 is the strongest pot. Each pot needs as many teams as there are groups.
- Set the Number of groups. The draw gives each group one team from every pot.
- Read the Draw. Change a number or a team to see another result.
How the draw is made
The teams are placed one by one, pot by pot, in a random order. Each team goes to a group that has no team from its pot yet and no team from its country. If a team has no group left, the search goes back and moves an earlier team to another group, until every team is placed or no arrangement is possible.
The pot system is common in tournament formats: teams are divided into pots by strength, and each group takes one team from each pot. The Wikipedia article on the group stage describes it (Wikipedia, Group stage).
Teams in each pot = number of groups
Teams in each group = number of pots
Example: 12 teams in 3 pots of 4, and 4 groups: each group has 3 teams, one from each pot.- A team without a country has no country rule, so it can share a group with any other team that the pot rule allows.
- The draw is random within the rules, and each run can give a different result.
What the simulation leaves out
- Rules beyond pots and countries, such as geography or travel distances.
- Seeding rules that change a team's pot after the draw.
- The real draw procedure, with its ceremony and its checks.
Example: 12 teams, 3 pots and 4 groups
The sample has four teams in each pot and four groups, so each group gets three teams, one from each pot. Norway appears in pot 1 (Red Falcons) and in pot 2 (Iron Wolves), so those two teams are never drawn into the same group.
Each run places the teams in a different order, so the groups change from run to run, but the rules always hold: one team from each pot in every group, and no two teams from the same country in one group.
Frequently asked questions
What is a pot?
A group of teams of similar strength, usually numbered from 1 for the strongest. Each pot is drawn so that every group takes one team from it.
Why was a draw reported as impossible?
No arrangement of the teams follows the pot and country rules. The usual cause is that one pot holds more teams from one country than the groups can take.
Does the simulation use the real rules of a competition?
No. It applies the rules you enter: pots and countries. Competitions set their own rules, and their draw ceremonies and seeding are not reproduced here.
Why can the same teams end up in different groups?
Each run shuffles the teams into a new random order, so the placements can differ from run to run. Every run still follows the rules you set.
What happens to a team without a country?
It has no country rule, so it can share a group with any other team, as long as the pot rule still holds.
Sources
Figures and text last checked on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.