How to play
Default picks
If you miss a pick, you may be eligible for a default pick, depending on the allocation of defaults we have made for the tournament.
A default is a pick for the home team (in tournaments with home and away games) or the team ranked higher in the world in the sport in question. If the default team wins, you will score a Win Point. But you won't be eligible for any other points (e.g. Margin Points and Bonus Points) and if there is a Grand Slam Point available in the round, you will be disqualified from it.
A default pick is not an automatic point. It is only awarded if the default team wins, and all it tries to do is guess what you would have picked if you had been able to make the pick.
Eligible games
Not all games have defaults. Once we get to the quarter-finals and onwards, no defaults will be issued: the impact would be too great from these important matches.
Why does SportGuru have default picks?
We use the default pick system because we don't want people who miss a game or two to feel like they've fallen behind and that there's not much point in continuing. We think the default safety net is reasonable, especially because it's tightly controlled by only a few defaults being available for each tournament. Long-term defaulting gets you nowhere; and if you're feeling upset because someone else got a default, ask yourself if you really couldn't make a better prediction than someone who's just allocated the home team...
Rules for this tournament
You are eligible for 5 default picks. Anyone joining the tournament late will be allocated late joiner default points up to a limit of 5. Regular defaults will subsequently still apply over and above the late joiner defaults.
World rankings at start of tournament
The higher-ranked team will be the default team in any given game.
 | Brazil | 1 |
 | Spain | 2 |
 | Portugal | 3 |
 | Netherlands | 4 |
 | Italy | 5 |
 | Germany | 6 |
 | Argentina | 7 |
 | England | 8 |
 | France | 9 |
 | Greece | 13 |
 | USA | 14 |
 | Serbia | 15 |
 | Uruguay | 16 |
 | Mexico | 17 |
 | Chile | 18 |
 | Cameroon | 19 |
 | Australia | 20 |
 | Nigeria | 21 |
 | Switzerland | 24 |
 | Slovenia | 25 |
 | Ivory Coast | 27 |
 | Algeria | 30 |
 | Paraguay | 31 |
 | Ghana | 32 |
 | Slovakia | 34 |
 | Denmark | 36 |
 | Honduras | 38 |
 | Japan | 45 |
 | South Korea | 47 |
 | New Zealand | 78 |
 | South Africa | 83 |
 | Korea DPR | 105 |
