How to Run a World Cup Sweepstake with Your Gals ⚽💗💚

The Men's World Cup kicks off on 11th June and, whilst we're obviously more excited about women's football around here, a World Cup sweepstake is still one of the easiest ways to bring your community together and add a bit of excitement to the tournament.

Whether you're running a Gals FC community, a workplace football club, or just have a group chat full of football fans, here's our guide to running a simple and fun sweepstake.

Step 1: Decide How Entries Will Work

This year's tournament features 48 teams, so there are a couple of ways you can organise things.

Option 1: One Team Per Person

Anyone who wants to take part gets one entry. Once everyone has had the opportunity to join, you can either:

💗 Allow existing players to purchase a second entry

💗 Open any remaining teams to friends, partners or family members

The goal is simply to allocate all 48 teams before the tournament begins.

Option 2: Multiple Teams Per Person

If you have a smaller group, divide the 48 teams evenly between everyone who enters.

For example:

💗 12 participants = 4 teams each

💗 16 participants = 3 teams each

💗 24 participants = 2 teams each

A few people may end up with one more or one fewer team if the numbers don't divide perfectly, which is absolutely fine.

Step 2: Set Your Entry Fee and Prize Pot

You can choose whatever entry fee works for your group.

We're suggesting £2.50 per entry and using the full pot for prizes and a charity donation.

If all 48 teams are allocated, the prize pot looks like this:

🥇 Winner: £50

🥈 Runner-up: £25

🥉 Third Place: £15

🏅 Fourth Place: £10

💚 Charity Donation: £20

One tip: don't make it winner-takes-all. Having multiple prize positions keeps more people invested throughout the tournament.

Step 3: Do the Draw Properly

This is arguably the most important part of the whole sweepstake.

People need to trust that the draw is completely random, so make it as transparent as possible.

Think FA Cup style:

🎩 One pot contains participant names

🎩 One pot contains all 48 teams

Draw a participant's name first, then draw their team.

If you're running the draw in person, let the participant pick their own team from the hat. If you're running it remotely, record a video and share it with everyone afterwards.

A visible draw makes the whole thing more exciting and avoids any questions about fairness.

Step 4: Collect Payments

Keep this simple. We like to use a Monzo link and keep all the payments in a pot.

But you could use:

💗 Cash

💗 Bank transfer

💗 PayPal

Whatever is easiest for your community.

Step 5: Keep Everyone Updated

The sweepstake is much more fun when people know what's happening.

Throughout the tournament, consider sharing updates on:

⚽ Which teams are still in contention

⚽ The biggest shocks and upsets

⚽ Quarter-finalists, semi-finalists and finalists

⚽ Who is currently in the prize positions

A few updates in your WhatsApp group can keep the excitement going right through to the final.

Final Whistle

A World Cup sweepstake is one of the simplest ways to bring people together around a major tournament. It creates conversation, friendly rivalry and gives everyone a team to cheer for, even if it's one they'd never normally support.

Good luck to everyone taking part and may the football gods smile kindly upon your draw. ⚽💗💚

Keep Up With England's World Cup Journey ⚽

Not sure when England are playing?

We've put together a handy guide with all of England's confirmed World Cup fixtures, kick-off times and the key knockout stage dates to keep in your diary.

👉 Read our England World Cup fixture guide.

New Here? Welcome to Gals FC 💗💚

Gals FC is a community football club for women. We run friendly, non-competitive football games across the UK, helping women get active, make friends and be part of a local community.

Whether you've played football your whole life or haven't kicked a ball since school, you'll be welcome.