The 2026 FIFA World Cup begins June 11th. This years tournament is being held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. You have until the start of the tournament to enter the various free-to-play World Cup fantasy games, World Cup brackets, World Cup survivor and World Cup picks contests to set yourself up to win prizes during this years World Cup.
Below I’ve created a list of free contests you can join leading into the World Cup. I’ve separated the fantasy, brackets, survivor, and picks contests into different categories. I will be adding more contests when they are announced as we get closer to the start of the 2026 World Cup.
Do you know of free-to-play World Cup contests not included on the list? I so please email us with a link to the contest and I will have it added to this page.
Free and Value Added World Cup Contests
Here’s a quick look at every contest on this page. Scroll down for the full details, prize breakdowns, and how-to-play instructions for each one.
| Contest | Type | Prize Pool | Entry | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BetOnline.ag $25K Pick’em | Picks | $25,000 | Free | A |
| SportsBetting.ag $25K Pick’em | Picks | $25,000 | Free | A |
| Bovada $250K Bracket Challenge | Bracket | $250,000 | Free | B |
| MyBookie.ag $25K Elimination Bracket | Bracket | $25,000 | $10 / entry | B |
| MyBookie.ag $25K Pick’em | Picks | $25,000 | $10 / entry | B |
| Splash $10K Challenge | Survivor | $10,000 | Free | B |
| ESPN Knockout Bracket Challenge | Bracket | $10,000 | Free | B |
| ESPN Group Stage Challenge | Picks | $10,000 | Free | B |
| Sorare Global Cup | Fantasy | $150,000+ | Card purchase | B+ |
| Sorare Sets (Colors) | Fantasy | Cash + Gems | Free | B |
Bracket Contests
The bracket contests work the same as March Madness brackets. You pick the two teams to advance from each group, and then pick which teams will advance through each knockout stage, until you arrive at a winner. Make sure you read the scoring and rules for each contest.
Bovada $250,000 World Cup Bracket Challenge
| Total Prize Pool | $250,000 (across two separate challenges) |
| Contest Starts | Group Stage (June 11th). Entries are accepted from May 28th up until the first game kicks off on June 11th. |
| How It Works | There are two ways to play and win. Perfect Bracket Challenge: Build your own bracket and call every match outcome of the tournament. Get them all right and you take the $150,000 prize (split evenly if more than one entrant lands a perfect bracket). Influencer Bracket Challenge: Pick one of four influencer teams to back — Vernon Maxwell, SantiZap, Eli Lesser, or the Bovada Community. If the influencer you joined finishes with the highest-scoring bracket, everyone on that team splits the $100,000. |
| Scoring | Group Winner (3 points), Group Runner-Up (2 points), Group 3rd Place (2 points), Round of 32 (1 point), Round of 16 (2 points), Quarter Finals (4 points), Semi-Finals (8 points), Final (16 points). |
| Prizes | $150,000 for a perfect bracket and a $100,000 pool for the winning influencer team. Prizes are paid as bonus funds with rollover (the perfect-bracket prize carries 1x sports rollover; the influencer prize carries 10x sports / 20x casino rollover). |
| Eligibility | Free To Enter. Must have a Bovada account, be 18 or older, and one entry is allowed per person. |
| Contest Grade | B |
MyBookie.ag $25K World Cup Elimination Stage Bracket
| Total Prize Pool | $25,000 |
| Contest Starts | Round of 32 (June 28th) |
| How It Works | Pick the winners throughout the knockout stage of the World Cup. |
| Scoring | Round of 32 (2 points), Round of 16 (4 points), Quarter Finals (8 points), Semi-Finals (16 points), Finals (32 points). |
| Prizes | Top 250 places. 1st: $5,000 2nd: $2,500 3rd: $2,000 Decreasing down to $35 for 250th place. |
| Price | $10 per entry |
| Contest Grade | B |
ESPN Men’s Knockout Bracket Challenge
| Total Prize Pool | $10,000 |
| Contest Starts | Round of 32 (June 28th at 3:00 pm ET) |
| How It Works | Once the 32-team knockout field locks in on June 27th, call the winner of every match the rest of the way, all 31 games down to the title. Get your picks in early if you like, then adjust them up until the deadline. |
| Scoring | Each round is worth more than the last: Round of 32 (25 points), Round of 16 (50 points), Quarter Finals (100 points), Semi-Finals (200 points), Finals (400 points). |
| Tiebreaker | Your guess at the total number of goals scored in the knockout rounds. |
| Entries | Up to 25 brackets per account. Everything locks the moment the first Round of 32 game kicks off. |
| Price | Free To Enter (must have an ESPN account) |
| Contest Grade | B |
Survivor Contests
Survivor contests are last-one-standing pools. You make your picks and stay alive as long as they keep coming through, with the goal of outlasting the rest of the field by the end of the tournament.
Splash $10K Free-to-Play World Cup Challenge
| Total Prize Pool | $10,000 |
| Contest Starts | Group Stage (June 11th) |
| How It Works | Submit a finishing position for each country in the group stage, then submit your knockout-stage picks in a standard bracket format. |
| Scoring | Correct Group Stage Finishing Position (1 point), Round of 32 (1 point), Round of 16 (2 points), Quarter Finals (4 points), Semi-Finals (8 points), Finals (16 points). |
| Prizes | Top 100 places. 1st: $1,250 Splash Cash 2nd: $750 Splash Cash 3rd: $500 Splash Cash Decreasing down to $50 Splash Cash for 100th place. |
| Price | Free To Enter (must have a Splash Sports account) |
| Contest Grade | B |
**SplashSports.com is also running 2 massive Survivor Contests for the World Cup ($100 entry contest with $2,000,000 guaranteed, and $1,000 entry contest with $1,000,000 guaranteed).
Predictions Contests
There are also World Cup contests that just require you to make a few picks on World Cup propositions.
BetOnline.ag $25,000 World Cup Pick’em
| Total Prize Pool | $25,000 |
| Contest Starts | Group Stage (June 11th) |
| How It Works | Select the result of each game throughout the World Cup (Team 1, Draw, Team 2). 1 point for every correct pick. |
| Stages | Split into four rounds: Round 1: Group Stage (June 11-17) Round 2: Group Stage (June 18-23) Round 3: Group Stage (June 24-27) Round 4: Knockout Stage (June 28-July 19) |
| Prizes | Each Group Stage round — $5,000 pool: 1st: $250, 2nd: $150, 3rd: $100, down to $5 for 500th. Knockout round — $10,000 pool: 1st: $500, 2nd: $300, 3rd: $200, down to $10 for 500th. |
| Eligibility | Free To Enter. Must have a BetOnline.ag account and must wager $25 or more at BetOnline in each phase to be eligible for that phase’s prizes. |
| Contest Grade | A |
SportsBetting.ag $25,000 World Cup Pick’em
| Total Prize Pool | $25,000 |
| Contest Starts | Group Stage (June 11th). Registration runs from May 29th through July 19th. |
| How It Works | Pick a result for every match of the tournament: the winner, or a draw during the Group Stage. Each correct call is worth 1 point. Your selections lock in automatically and you can keep tweaking them right up until each game starts. |
| Stages | Split into four rounds: Round 1: Group Stage (June 11-17) Round 2: Group Stage (June 18-23) Round 3: Group Stage (June 24-27) Round 4: Knockout Stage (June 28-July 19, including the third-place game) |
| Prizes | Each Group Stage round — $5,000 pool: 1st: $250, 2nd: $150, 3rd: $100, down to $5 for 500th. Knockout round — $10,000 pool: 1st: $500, 2nd: $300, 3rd: $200, down to $10 for 500th. |
| Eligibility | Free To Enter. Must have a SportsBetting.ag account and must wager $25 or more in the Sportsbook, Casino and/or Racebook during each round to be eligible for that round’s prizes. |
| Contest Grade | A |
MyBookie.ag $25K World Cup Pick’em Contest 2026
| Total Prize Pool | $25,000 |
| Contest Starts | Group Stage (June 11th) |
| How It Works | Select 25 winning teams against the spread during the Group Stage of the 2026 World Cup. 1 point for every correct pick (0.5 points for pushes). |
| Prizes | Top 250 places. 1st: $5,000 2nd: $2,500 3rd: $2,000 Decreasing down to $35 for 250th place. |
| Price | $10 per entry (buy 2 entries, get 1 free) |
| Contest Grade | B |
ESPN Men’s Group Stage Challenge
| Total Prize Pool | $10,000 |
| Contest Starts | Group Stage (June 11th) |
| How It Works | Rank all four teams in each of the 12 groups from first to last, then call which 8 of the 12 third-place finishers will grab a Round of 32 spot. Correct picks score points, and there’s a bonus on top for any group where you nail the order top to bottom. |
| Entries | Up to 3 per account. Picks are locked once the tournament opener kicks off on June 11th. |
| Price | Free To Enter (must have an ESPN account) |
| Contest Grade | B |
Fantasy Contests
Sorare.com is running some fun and great value fantasy sports competitions for the 2026 World Cup. They have a new free-to-play format (Sorare Sets) as well as their regular format where you compete with cards you purchase on the plastform.
Sorare Global Cup
| Total Prize Pool | More than $150,000 in cash, plus Essence (used to craft in-season cards). |
| In-Season Contests | Lineups must use 4 in-season cards out of 5. Hot Streak: Limited tier shares a $70,000 pool for completing the 4th stage of the challenge; Rare tier shares a $35,000 pool for the 4th stage. Essence is also awarded for the 2nd and 3rd stages. Leaderboard: Super Rare & Unique tiers share $26,800+ in cash, with leaderboards running across 7 game weeks of the tournament. |
| Classic Contests | Use 5 classic cards in your lineups. Essence prizes are awarded on the leaderboards for each scarcity (Limited, Rare, Super Rare, Unique). |
| Contest Grade | B+ |
Sorare Sets (Colors)
| Prizes | Rewards build as you advance through the steps, mixing Gems and cash (think 40 Gems at Step 3, $100 at Step 4, and $1,000 at Step 5). A handful of bonus modes, including Squads, Quests, Raffles, the 100 Club and Golden Score, give you even more ways to cash in. |
| How It Works | Colors is a brand new card set built around this summer’s international slate. A free 10-card Starter Pack gets you going, and from there you set lineups that score off how the real players perform and work your way up a five-step ladder. Bring friends along on a Squad board, and keep an eye on the extras: the 100 Club drops 10 Gems whenever one of your players cracks 100 points, while Golden Score asks you to nail the combined total of a 5-player lineup on a few marquee matchups. |
| Dates | The Set kicked off June 2nd and runs through the back half of the summer, lining up with the World Cup. |
| Price | Free To Play. Option to buy Gems to purchase extra packs and strengthen your collection. |
| Bonus | **Joining through our link will earn you 50 Gems to start (enough to buy a Gold Pack). |
| Contest Grade | B |
FIFA World Cup • World Cup Bracket • World Cup Bracket Contest • World Cup Fantasy