BUILD YOUR XI

Pick a formation, fill each position with a player from the given club or nation

Choose Your Formation

Build Your XI: Soccer Lineup Builder Game

Build your ultimate starting eleven from players who match specific criteria. Test your football knowledge across positions, teams and eras.

Build Your XI hands you a formation, then a slot machine assigns a random club or country to every position. Your job is naming a player from that exact team who fits each slot.

When the eleventh name lands, an AI referee grades the lineup and writes a short scouting report, then a season report plays a full year out with your XI: league finish, points, trophies and a top scorer. No two teams ever come out alike.

How to play Build Your XI, a free soccer lineup builder game

Choosing one of six formations

Choose one of 6 formations: 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 3-5-2, 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3, or 5-3-2.

Spinning a club or country per slot

Tap a position. The spinner shows which club or national team that slot is locked to.

Typing a player who fits the slot

Type a player from that team who fits. The game verifies the answer before it counts.

Rerolling an assignment you hate

Hate an assignment? Reroll it for a different team.

Submitting your finished XI for a rating

Fill all 11 slots, check the role fit, chemistry and balance tiles under the pitch, then submit for the AI rating.

Build Your XI rules: positions, duplicates and chemistry points

Wrong answers cost nothing to retry

Wrong answers are rejected with a reason but cost nothing. Retry until a valid name lands.

Which nearby positions a slot accepts

A slot takes a player who plays there or right beside it: full backs and wing backs cover each other, wingers count on both flanks, CM covers CDM and CAM, strikers cover each other. A keeper only ever goes in goal.

No duplicate players in your lineup

No duplicate players across your XI.

Scoring chemistry and the offline backup judge

Chemistry: two players standing next to each other on the pitch who are at the same club on our data add +0.6 to the side, from the same country +0.2, up to +2 in all.

If the AI judge is unreachable, a built in offline judge grades you instead, so a run never dead ends.

Role fit and balance in the season sim

Role fit: a player in a slot his recorded positions cover plays at full value. Next door, like a right back at left back, costs 2 rating points on him, averaged over the eleven. The slot check never lets anyone further out of position than that.

Balance: no defensive midfielder in a CM or CDM slot costs the side 1, and a wide slot held by someone who is not a wide player, like a centre back at full back, costs 0.5 for that flank.

The season report says what role fit, chemistry and balance were each worth in league points, by replaying the same season without each one.

Build Your XI walkthrough: a Liverpool heavy lineup gets rated

Alisson and Saka fill a Liverpool heavy XI

You take 4-3-3. Liverpool lands on the goalkeeper slot, so Alisson goes in. Arsenal on the right wing is Saka. Then the striker slot spins a national team, and you weigh Harry Kane against saving England for a harder slot.

A verdict that praises the spine

Two men from the same club end up side by side in your back line, so chemistry pays you for it, and the verdict praises the spine while roasting your left back. You run it back in a 3-5-2.

Build Your XI tips for a lineup that scores well with the AI

Rerolling thin assignments before typing

Reroll thin assignments before typing, knowing the spin can land somewhere worse.

Naming goalkeepers from small clubs

Small club on the wheel? Goalkeepers are easy to name, elite wingers are not.

Putting clubmates side by side for chemistry

Two players from the same club or country only link when they stand next to each other, so use your slot choice to put them side by side.

Letting autocomplete fix a rejected spelling

If a right sounding name is rejected, let the search autocomplete the spelling for you.

Build Your XI FAQ: rerolls, positions and the rating verdict

Who checks my answers?

An AI validator confirms the player really played for the assigned club or country. If the check cannot complete, you simply retry; it never fills a slot with a wrong answer.

Can I reroll more than once?

Yes, rerolls are unlimited, and each spin picks a team not already used in your lineup.

Can I put a goalkeeper in midfield?

No. The game checks each pick's own position against the slot before anything else, so a keeper is refused everywhere except goal and nobody else can take the goal. Nearby positions are fine: a centre back can shift to right back, a defensive mid can fill a CM slot.

What does the rating look like?

A rating headline, a short written analysis of your picks, and your role fit, chemistry and balance tiles. Under it comes a season report: a squad rating out of 100, where you finish in a 20 team league, points, trophies and a top scorer, plus how your defence, midfield and attack compare and what role fit, chemistry and balance were each worth in points. Two tabs open the season month by month and give every pick his appearances, goals, assists and average rating, and one line says what a different shape or a stronger pick in your weakest slot would have changed on the same rolls. Every player is judged at his peak, so retired greats are not marked down for being retired.

Is Build Your XI free to play?

Yes. Build Your XI is free to play on DoUKnowBall, right in your browser. No download and no signup needed.

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