About Starting XI
Starting XI is a free lineup builder for football fans. Pick a formation, fill it with real players, sketch how the team should play, and send the result to a friend as a link.
What the builder does
You choose from eight common formations and the pitch lays out the positions for you. Search any professional footballer by name and drop them into a slot. Players can be dragged anywhere on the pitch, swapped by dropping one onto another, replaced or removed.
The tactics mode lets you draw passes, off-the-ball runs, lines and zones straight onto the pitch. When you share a lineup, the link carries everything: formation, players, positions and drawings.
Why it exists
Arguing about the best XI is half the fun of football. Most lineup tools either hide behind an account, fill the screen with clutter, or only know one league. Starting XI is meant to be quick: open it, build a team, share it. No sign-up, and your lineups stay in your browser.
Where the data comes from
Player names, positions, clubs and nationalities come from Wikidata, a free database maintained by volunteers. Photos come from Wikimedia Commons and are freely licensed; each player's details link to the photo's author and licence. Because the data is community-edited, a club or position can occasionally be out of date.
Guides
Alongside the builder, Starting XI has guides for anyone who wants to get more out of their lineups:
- Football formations explained: how the eight formations in the builder line up, and their strengths and weaknesses.
- Football positions explained: what GK, CB, DM, CAM, ST and the other labels mean, plus modern roles like the false nine.
- How to draw football tactics: the drawing tools, and eight classic patterns to sketch.
- Iconic starting XIs: the stories behind the famous teams in the "Load a team" menu.
- A short history of football formations: how the game got from seven forwards to the modern 4-3-3.
- How to pick your all-time dream XI: a step-by-step method, and the mistakes to avoid.
- Football tactics glossary: plain-English definitions of the jargon.
Contact
Found a bug, a wrong player detail, or have an idea for the builder? Email startingxifplbuildercontact@gmail.com.