Automatic Team Progression

Last updated: February 7, 2025

MyCup can automatically advance teams between tournament phases based on match results. This feature eliminates manual work when teams qualify from group stages or win knockout matches.

How It Works

Group Stage to Knockout

When all matches in a group are completed, MyCup can automatically assign qualified teams to knockout phase matches based on their final standings.

Setup:

  1. Create your tournament structure with a Group Stage phase and a Knockout phase
  2. In the Knockout phase, instead of manually selecting teams, configure the team source:
    • Source Type: "Group Position"
    • Source Group: Select the group (e.g., "Group A")
    • Position: Select which place qualifies (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)

Example Configuration:

For a typical "Group Stage + Quarterfinals" setup:

  • Semifinal 1: "1st from Group A" vs "2nd from Group B"
  • Semifinal 2: "1st from Group B" vs "2nd from Group A"

What Happens:

  1. Teams play all group stage matches
  2. When the last match in a group finishes, standings are calculated
  3. Teams are automatically assigned to their designated knockout slots
  4. You can then generate matches for the knockout phase

Knockout Round to Next Round

Winners of knockout matches can automatically advance to the next round.

Setup:

  1. In the next round's match, configure the team source:
    • Source Type: "Match Winner"
    • Source Match: Select the previous round match

Example Configuration:

For a typical knockout bracket:

  • Final Team 1: "Winner of Semifinal 1"
  • Final Team 2: "Winner of Semifinal 2"

What Happens:

  1. Teams play the knockout match
  2. When the match is marked as finished, the winner is determined
  3. The winner is automatically assigned to the next round match
  4. No manual intervention required

Visual Indicators

Before Resolution

When a team slot is configured for automatic progression but not yet resolved, you'll see placeholders like:

  • [1st place from Group A] - Waiting for group to complete
  • [Winner of Quarterfinal 1] - Waiting for match to finish

After Resolution

Once the source phase/match is complete, you'll see the actual team name with a hint showing the source:

  • Team Arsenal (1st Group A) - Team that finished 1st in Group A
  • Team Chelsea (Winner of QF1) - Team that won Quarterfinal 1

Setting Up Automatic Progression

Step 1: Create Your Structure

  1. Go to Structure page in your tournament dashboard
  2. Add your phases (Group Stage, Knockout rounds)
  3. Configure groups and matches as normal
  4. Important: Save your structure first before configuring team sources

Note: If you don't see options to select group positions or match winners when configuring knockout matches, you need to save your structure first. The system needs the phases and groups to exist in the database before they can be referenced as team sources.

Step 2: Configure Team Sources

For knockout matches that should receive teams automatically:

  1. Click on the match settings
  2. For each team slot, choose the source type:
    • Manual: You'll assign the team yourself
    • Group Position: Team comes from a specific group standing
    • Match Winner: Team comes from winning a previous match

Step 3: Save and Wait

  1. Save your tournament structure
  2. Teams will be assigned automatically as matches are completed
  3. Check the Structure page to see progression status

Multi-Division Tournaments

For tournaments with multiple divisions, automatic progression works within each division:

  • Teams from Division A groups advance to Division A knockout
  • Teams from Division B groups advance to Division B knockout
  • Cross-division progression is not supported automatically

Division-Specific Team Filtering:

When manually assigning teams or using the Draw feature in a multi-division tournament:

  • Only teams belonging to that division are shown
  • This prevents accidentally assigning teams to the wrong division's matches

Best Practices

Plan Your Structure First

Before generating matches:

  1. Set up all phases and their connections
  2. Configure which positions qualify from each group
  3. Define winner progression for all knockout rounds
  4. Verify the flow makes sense

Don't Generate Knockout Matches Too Early

For Group Stage + Knockout formats:

  1. Generate group stage matches first
  2. Wait for groups to complete (or at least be close to completion)
  3. Then generate knockout matches

This ensures teams are properly assigned before match generation.

Verify Progressions

After matches complete, check the Structure page to verify:

  • Correct teams advanced from groups
  • Winners are properly assigned to next rounds
  • No slots are left unassigned

Handle Edge Cases

Ties in Group Standings: If teams are tied on points, MyCup uses tiebreakers (goal difference, goals scored, etc.) to determine positions.

Technical Results: If a match has a technical result (walkover, forfeit), the system still determines a winner and progresses them normally.

Troubleshooting

No Options for Group Position or Match Winner

Cause: The structure hasn't been saved yet, so phases and groups don't exist in the database.

Solution:

  1. Save your current structure first (click "Save Structure")
  2. After saving, edit the structure again
  3. Now you'll see options to select groups and matches as team sources

Teams Not Advancing Automatically

Check that:

  1. All matches in the source phase/group are marked as "Finished"
  2. The team source is correctly configured (Group Position or Match Winner)
  3. The source phase item (group or match) is selected correctly

Solution: Go to Structure page and verify the configuration. If needed, you can manually assign teams to unresolved slots.

Wrong Team Advanced

Check that:

  1. All match results are entered correctly
  2. Group standings show expected positions
  3. The correct position is configured (1st vs 2nd, etc.)

Solution: Correct the match result if wrong, or manually reassign the team in the knockout slot.

Progression Not Triggering

Check that:

  1. Match status is "Finished" (not just scores entered)
  2. The match belongs to the correct phase item
  3. All matches in the group are complete (for group-to-knockout progression)

Solution: Re-save the match with "Finished" status to trigger progression.

Manual Override

You can always manually assign teams even when automatic progression is configured:

  1. Go to Structure page
  2. Find the match with automatic team source
  3. Change the source type to "Manual"
  4. Select the team directly

This is useful for:

  • Correcting errors
  • Handling special circumstances
  • Wildcard entries

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