I s.no tarted by sketching out the basic bracket structure on a piece of paper. It's a simple knockout format, so I just needed to figure out the matchups for each round. Then, I created a simple website to display the bracket. At first, I manually inputted the teams into the bracket based on the initial groups - you know, like Group A, Group B, and so on.
The next step was making it interactive. I added some basic code so that I could simulate the matches. I decided to use a random number generator to determine the winner of each match. It's not realistic, but it does the job for a simple simulator. I set it up so each team would play every other team multiple times to make it a bit more interesting. For the quarterfinals, I made sure the winners from the group stages advanced.
I then added a feature to track the results of each match. As the simulator ran, it updated the bracket with the winners. Eventually, it got to the semifinals and then the final. I even added some fun little scenarios. Like, one time I had Argentina facing Canada in the semis, with Argentina winning 2-0. And in the final, I had Argentina against Colombia. Even though I imagined Messi getting injured, Argentina still won 1-0. Just a bit of fun drama, right?
Finally, I polished it up a bit and added some extra details. I included some info about the prize money - apparently, the runner-up gets $7 million, and the winner gets $16 million. I'm pretty sure that gets split among the players and staff. Anyway, that's how I built my Copa America 2024 bracket simulator. It was a fun project, and I learned a lot along the way.
Key Stages:
- Planning: Sketched out the bracket structure and initial matchups.
- Website: Created a basic website to display the bracket.
- Interactivity: Added code to simulate matches using random results.
- Tracking Results: Implemented a feature to update the bracket with match winners.
- Enhancements: Added scenarios, prize money info, and some visual improvements.
It was a pretty straightforward process, and I'm happy with how it turned out. If you're into football, give it a try and see how your bracket turns out!
