The Beautiful Pool

It’s all about us

There are 62 of us coming along on this 2026 Beautiful Pool joyride, and I couldn’t be happier. That is the largest number since 2014, and a significant increase from the 2024 outing. Thank you to everyone who convinced their friends, relatives or colleagues to join in.

Quality Control

This file includes all of the picks that you submitted. It is IMPORTANT that you download this file and check to make sure that I have correctly transferred your picks to the master mainframe computer database thingy.

Each column corresponds to a position in a Group. For example the “A1” column lists the teams that were shown as coming 1st in Group A. The “A2” column lists the picks for 2nd place in Group A and “A3” is the 3rd place team (if chosen). Same for the other Groups.

If something doesn’t look right, let me know and I will double check that it matches the entry form you submitted.

In the first column, I have included your category after your name. It is either GV for Grizzled Vet, N for Newbie or P for Prodigal. More on that later.

What to expect from me

Not much, actually. At least not right away.

I will put together a summary of which teams we collectively have chosen to advance, and maybe I’ll send an update after all teams have played 2 games. But mostly I’ll leave you alone for a while.

After all the teams advancing from the Group Stage are known, I will make the 2nd entry form available for download. Then you will need to pick the winner for each one of the 32 Knock-Out Stage matches. The second entry form needs to be returned to me before the first Knock-Out match on 28 June.

FAIR WARNING: Timing will be tight, as the first Knock-Out Stage match is only 3 days after the last Group Stage match. Please be ready when the time comes.

For now, “Let’s Play Ball”. (Wrong sports lingo, but you know what I mean).