About Daily XI

Thirteen football puzzles, new every day. Free. Made by one person who should probably be doing something else.

Fresh puzzles at midnight, the same for everyone, one go at each. Some are about squads, some about careers, some about how much football trivia you have quietly absorbed instead of learning a language.

The games

• Pointless — the most obscure right answer wins. Everyone says Chelsea; nobody says Penafiel.
• Career Path — name the player from his clubs, one crest at a time.
• Six Degrees — link two players through teammates. Club teammates only, before you ask.
• Banker — back players with multipliers before you see their numbers. Nerve required.
• Higher or Lower — one stat, a chain of players, and a streak that dies the moment you guess wrong.
• Regulars — name the ten players someone shared a pitch with most.
• Timeline — put eight football moments in order. Three lives.
• Matchday — the club and the season, from the starting eleven.
• Rank Six — six players, one stat, rank them.
• Draft XI — build the best eleven you can from what you are dealt.
• Passport — guess the player from where he has played.
• Guess the Player — clues get easier, the score gets worse.
• What’s the Link — what do these players have in common?

Finish any five and you get a five-a-side team on the hub. Play well and you get Buffon. Play badly and you get a journeyman from the Danish second tier.

Where the facts come from

Stats, fees and values from Transfermarkt. Careers and Timeline events checked against Wikipedia. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, all credited on the photo credits page.

Football data goes wrong in small ways and I would rather know. Tell me — the corrections people send are the main reason it keeps getting better.

Who makes it

One person, in their spare time. No company, no team, no connection to any club or league. All stats are for entertainment, which is a polite way of saying do not bet on them.

If the puzzles have become part of your day, there is a tip jar. Entirely optional.