22 Team Single Elimination Bracket

A blank 22 team single elimination bracket with 21 numbered games over 5 rounds and byes for seeds 1 to 10. Every open slot says which game its team comes from. Print it, or fill it in online.

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Blank 22 team single elimination bracket with 21 numbered games and byes for seeds 1 to 10

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How a 22 team single elimination bracket works

A single elimination bracket only pairs up evenly at a power of two (4, 8, 16, 32, 64), so 22 teams go into a 32-slot bracket. The 10 empty slots become byes for seeds 1 to 10, who start in round 2. Round 1 has 6 games, played by seeds 11 to 22.

There are 21 games in total. Each game knocks out one team and every team except the champion is knocked out once, so a single elimination bracket always has one game fewer than it has teams. The games are played over 5 rounds, and the champion plays 5 games, or 4 if it is one of the seeds with a bye.

Seeds are placed so the strongest teams meet as late as possible: 1 and 2 are in opposite halves and can only meet in the final, and seeds 1 to 4 are in separate quarters, so they can only meet from the semifinals on.

For the rules that apply at every size, see how a single elimination bracket works.

Order of play

Every game in the bracket, numbered as on the printable sheet. Games in the same round can run at the same time.

RoundGameMatchup
Round 1G1Seed 16 v Seed 17
G2Seed 13 v Seed 20
G3Seed 12 v Seed 21
G4Seed 15 v Seed 18
G5Seed 14 v Seed 19
G6Seed 11 v Seed 22
Round 2G7Seed 1 v Winner of G1
G8Seed 8 v Seed 9
G9Seed 4 v Winner of G2
G10Seed 5 v Winner of G3
G11Seed 2 v Winner of G4
G12Seed 7 v Seed 10
G13Seed 3 v Winner of G5
G14Seed 6 v Winner of G6
QuarterfinalsG15Winner of G7 v Winner of G8
G16Winner of G9 v Winner of G10
G17Winner of G11 v Winner of G12
G18Winner of G13 v Winner of G14
SemifinalsG19Winner of G15 v Winner of G16
G20Winner of G17 v Winner of G18
FinalG21Winner of G19 v Winner of G20

22 teams in other formats

22 teams in each format. Time slots: rounds that must be played one after another, with enough courts for every ready game.
FormatGamesGames per teamTime slots
22 team single elimination bracket211 to 55
22 team double elimination bracket42 or 432 to 1110 or 11
Round robin2312121
Swiss system5555

Fill it in online

Open this bracket in Easy Bracket Maker to type in real team names, keep this seeding or shuffle it, and enter scores as games finish. Winners move on automatically. Export it as SVG, PNG, CSV or a printable sheet, or send players a link. It runs in your browser and saves on your device; there is no account.

Open the 22 team bracket →

Other sizes

For a different number of teams, see the 21 team single elimination bracket or the 23 team single elimination bracket, or pick any size below.

Questions

How many games are in a 22 team single elimination bracket?

21. Each game knocks out one team, and every team except the champion is knocked out once.

Who gets a bye in a 22 team bracket?

Seeds 1 To 10. 22 teams go into a 32-slot bracket, which leaves 10 empty slots. The byes go to the top seeds, who start in round 2, so a higher seed earns an easier path.

How long does a 22 team single elimination tournament take?

With one court and 30-minute games, the 21 games take 10.5 hours back to back. With enough courts to play every ready game at once, it takes 5 rounds, about 2.5 hours, because each game waits for the games that feed it.

Is there a third-place game?

Not in the bracket itself. If you want one, the two semifinal losers (the losers of G19 and G20) play one extra game after the semifinals.