In a knockout tournament, every match eliminates one team. If the winner of the final match won a total of six matches, it means that to reach the final, the winner must have won matches in each of the rounds leading up to the final.
The winner had to win:
- One quarter-final match (if it's a 16 team format),
- One semi-final match,
- One final match.
Since the total number of matches won by the winner is six, they had to win matches in all preceding rounds. This means they must have won a match in the earlier rounds as well.
Assuming a standard knockout format, the number of matches needed is derived from the total number of teams:
- In each match, one team is eliminated.
- Therefore, if there are \( N \) teams, there will be \( N - 1 \) matches in total to determine a winner.
If the winner won six matches, it indicates that there were at least 6 rounds of matches (including the final). Hence, there should be \( N \) teams participating, supporting at least six rounds, which typically means:
- 2 teams in the first round,
- 4 teams in the second round,
- 8 teams in the third round,
- 16 teams in the fourth round,
- 32 teams in the fifth round,
- 64 teams in the sixth round.
For a total of six matches won by the winning team during the tournament, it would imply that there are 64 teams taking part in the tournament, as 64 allows for six rounds of matches to determine a winner.
So, the total number of teams that took part in the tournament is 64.
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