Jump to:
- 1 Round of 32: The Full Results
- 2 The Round of 32 Talking Points
- 3 The Result of the Tournament: Fate of the Fellowship 89, Brass: Birmingham 11
- 4 The Margin That Surprised Me: Root vs Everdell
- 5 Every Game Got at Least Some Votes
- 6 The Landslide Count
- 7 SETI Is Out
- 8 Round of 16: The Full Draw
- 9 Three Round of 16 Matchups Worth Your Attention
- 10 Match 1: Fate of the Fellowship vs Wingspan
- 11 Match 2: Azul vs 7 Wonders
- 12 Match 7: Ark Nova vs Root
- 13 VOTE NOW
- 14 Related
TL;DR
Brass: Birmingham, the BGG number one ranked game, lost to The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship 89-11. Ark Nova is now the highest-ranked BGG game still in the tournament. Every game received at least some votes this round. Azul and 7 Wonders meet in the World Cup of Board Games 2026 Round of 16. Ark Nova plays Root. Fate of the Fellowship faces Wingspan. The full draw is below.
Brass: Birmingham is out.
The game that has sat at the top of the BoardGameGeek rankings for what feels like the entire history of modern board gaming, the number one seed in this tournament, the game I opened the original group stage post by name-checking as the benchmark everything else gets measured against, lost 89-11 to The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship.
I need a minute.
Right. The Round of 32 results are in, we have eight survivors, and the Round of 16 draw is set. Let’s go through it. You can skip straight to voting at the bottom of this post. The Polls will close Sunday 26th July
Round of 32: The Full Results
Green percentages indicate a result over 80%. Red indicates a close match under 20% margin. One match came down to less than 15%.
| M# | Winner | Vote % | Loser % | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship | 88.9% | 11.1% | Brass: Birmingham |
| 2 | Wingspan | 76.9% | 23.1% | Dominion |
| 3 | Azul | 81.8% | 18.2% | The Castles of Burgundy |
| 4 | 7 Wonders | 91.7% | 8.3% | Codenames |
| 5 | Terraforming Mars | 87.5% | 12.5% | Five Tribes |
| 6 | Wyrmspan | 87.5% | 12.5% | Lost Ruins of Arnak |
| 7 | Cascadia | 87.5% | 12.5% | Star Realms |
| 8 | Clank!: Catacombs | 62.5% | 37.5% | A Feast for Odin |
| 9 | Jaipur | 85.7% | 14.3% | Endeavor: Deep Sea |
| 10 | Forest Shuffle | 77.8% | 22.2% | Viticulture: Essential Edition |
| 11 | Lords of Waterdeep | 90.0% | 10.0% | SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence |
| 12 | Harmonies | 75.0% | 25.0% | Magic: The Gathering |
| 13 | Ark Nova | 80.0% | 20.0% | Race for the Galaxy |
| 14 | Root | 77.8% | 22.2% | Everdell |
| 15 | Ticket to Ride: Europe | 57.1% | 42.9% | Agricola |
| 16 | Pandemic | 87.5% | 12.5% | Puerto Rico |
The Round of 32 Talking Points
The Result of the Tournament: Fate of the Fellowship 89, Brass: Birmingham 11
Let me put this in context. Brass: Birmingham is BGG ranked number one. It has been for a long time. It is a genuinely brilliant economic game about building canal and rail networks in industrial England, and in this tournament it was the top seed. It came through the Round of 64 with 71% of the vote.
It has now lost 89%-11% to The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, a cooperative game that came into this tournament as seed 32. This is not a small upset. This is one of the most lopsided results in the entire tournament so far, against the highest-ranked game on BGG.
What does it tell us? Probably that Brass: Birmingham is loved by a specific type of player, and that type of player is slightly outnumbered in a broad community vote by people who want to help Frodo get the ring to Mordor. Fate of the Fellowship is accessible, thematic, and has one of the most recognisable fictional universes in history behind it. It’s a theory i see mentioned from time to time that BGG rankings favour a specific type of player and game.
It is now the highest-ranked Tolkien game remaining in the tournament. Ark Nova takes over as the highest BGG-ranked game still standing, at number two on the list. The bracket has lost its top seed before the quarter finals. Truly, anything can happen here.
The Margin That Surprised Me: Root vs Everdell
I said in the Round of 32 preview post that I expected this to be close. Root and Everdell are both woodland games, both excellent, both with devoted fanbases. I thought it would be tight.
Root won 78%-22%. That is not tight. Everdell is a beautiful game with one of the best table presences in the hobby, and it got beaten decisively by a game that its own fans regularly describe as hard to teach. Root has clearly got a very engaged voting bloc behind it. It advances to face Ark Nova in the Round of 16, which is a matchup I genuinely do not know how to call.
Every Game Got at Least Some Votes
One thing worth noting about this round: every single game received at least some votes. That was not true in the Round of 64, where eight games ended on 0%. It is a sign that as the tournament gets smaller, the games getting votes are the ones with genuine supporters behind them. Nobody in the Round of 32 was there by accident.
The closest result was Match 15: Ticket to Ride: Europe beating Agricola 57%-42%. Agricola came within striking distance of a spot in the last eight. A worker placement game about running an Elizabethan-era farm nearly made the quarter finals of a community vote. I find that genuinely heartening. I do love there are games on just about every theme you can name.
The Landslide Count
Eight of the sixteen matches were won by 75% or more. Seven of those were won by 80% or more. That suggests the games left in the tournament are not particularly evenly matched in terms of their voter appeal, which makes the few close results even more interesting.
The most one-sided result outside of Match 1 was Match 4: 7 Wonders beat Codenames 92%-8%. Codenames is a brilliant party game and deserved its place in the last 32. But 7 Wonders in full flight is something else, and the voters clearly agreed.
SETI Is Out
After beating PARKS 100-0 in the Round of 64 and coming through the group stage comfortably, SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence lost to Lords of Waterdeep 90-10. That is a brutal exit for a game that has been one of the stories of this tournament. I genuinely like SETI, which rewards careful long-term planning and has an elegance that takes a few plays to appreciate, it’s a brilliant game. Lords of Waterdeep is a broader, more accessible game, and broader usually wins in a popular vote.
Round of 16: The Full Draw
Eight matches. One game goes through from each. Top half and bottom half remain separate until the Semi Finals.
| Match | Game A | vs | Game B |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship | vs | Wingspan |
| 2 | Azul | vs | 7 Wonders |
| 3 | Terraforming Mars | vs | Wyrmspan |
| 4 | Cascadia | vs | Clank! Catacombs |
| 5 | Jaipur | vs | Forest Shuffle |
| 6 | Lords of Waterdeep | vs | Harmonies |
| 7 | Ark Nova | vs | Root |
| 8 | Ticket to Ride: Europe | vs | Pandemic |
Three Round of 16 Matchups Worth Your Attention
Match 1: Fate of the Fellowship vs Wingspan
The game that just knocked out Brass: Birmingham now plays Wingspan, the bird-themed engine-building game that is probably the most widely owned modern board game in the hobby. Wingspan came through the Round of 32 beating Dominion 77-23, which is a comfortable margin.
This is genuinely hard to predict. Fate of the Fellowship has shown it can beat anyone. Wingspan has a vast player base that spans well beyond the usual hobbyist crowd. It is the game people buy when they want to try something beyond Catan, and those people vote.
I think Wingspan wins this one. But I said War of the Ring would beat Jaipur. I am not a reliable forecaster in this tournament. What do i know eh.
Match 2: Azul vs 7 Wonders
This is the matchup I’ve been dreading and looking forward to in equal measure.
Both of these are games I love. Azul is a tile-drafting game where you’re laying coloured tiles on a player board and trying to complete rows and columns without leaving too many leftovers. It is simple to teach, satisfying to play well, and quietly vicious once everyone at the table knows what they’re doing.
7 Wonders is a card-drafting game where you’re building an ancient civilisation and its Wonder across three ages, and the whole thing plays in 45 minutes with up to seven players. It is one of the most efficient games ever designed.
I honestly do not know which way I’d vote. I have probably played Azul more. I think 7 Wonders is maybe the better game in terms of design elegance. I am going to sit with this one for a few days before committing.
Match 7: Ark Nova vs Root
This is the match that interests me most in the bottom half. Ark Nova is BGG number two and the highest-ranked game left in the tournament. It is a card-driven engine builder about building and managing a zoo, with a genuinely clever card-power scaling mechanic and a conservation project system that makes the final scoring feel earned. Heavy, long, and deeply satisfying.
Root is an asymmetric area control game set in a woodland, where every faction plays completely differently. It is loud, chaotic, and produces better stories than almost any other game I’ve played.
I don’t know which way my vote goes on this one. If the question is which game I’d rather play on a given evening it changes depending on my mood. If the question is which is the better-designed game, I’d probably say Ark Nova, just. But Root might win this purely on personality.
VOTE NOW
The World Cup of Board Games 2026 Round of 16 Polls will close Sunday 26th July
Eight matches, eight spots in the quarter finals. Drop your picks in the comments below. One vote per matchup. I’ll post the quarter final draw once voting closes.
Eight games left. No Brass: Birmingham. No Gloomhaven, no Twilight Imperium, no Spirit Island, no Scythe. The bracket has done what brackets do.
Azul is still here. I remain entirely calm about this.
Votes will also be posted on Twitter/X, Bluesky and Instagram