Draft XI — Daily Football Budget Draft
How Draft XI works
Five signings, one budget, and a price list you are allowed to argue with. Each card carries a price we computed and a payoff we did not show you. The two are deliberately different quantities, so the round is not about spending the budget — it is about spotting which card the formula has undervalued.
These prices are ours, not the market's
We do not hold transfer valuations, and we are not going to invent a number that looks like one. The price on each card is a PlayFutbol rating computed from career figures published elsewhere on this site. It has no connection to Transfermarkt or any valuation service, and it is not an estimate of what anybody would pay.
A formula presented as a formula is fine; a formula presented as data is not. So here it is in full, and every card on the board shows the four bars that produced its number.
| Component | Weight | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| League appearances | 40% | capped at 700 |
| League goals | 30% | capped at 250 |
| Trophies (squad record) | 20% | capped at 20 |
| Youth | 10% | 36 minus age, over 18 years |
Each component is scaled to 0–100, weighted, and summed. Appearances and goals are league-scope, which is why the caps look lower than the all-competitions totals fans quote. Trophies are the squad record the honours games disclose.
562 players — 38 GK, 126 DEF, 197 MID, 201 FWD — priced between 4 and 87, on a 100-point budget across 5 rounds.
The payoff is a different formula, and that is the design. The first version scored you on how much you spent against the most expensive legal five. That is a knapsack puzzle wearing a football shirt: the benchmark landed on 97-100 every day and no football knowledge changed the answer. Now you are scored on league appearances + 3 x league goals, which excludes age and trophies — so the two numbers diverge exactly where a scout's judgement would.
Maintained by the PlayFutbol Data Team · First puzzle published September 2026 · Last audited September 13, 2026.
How to play in 3 steps
- 1
Read the four cards
Each shows a price and the four components behind it.
- 2
Sign one
Its price comes off the budget and the next round opens.
- 3
Finish all five
Your five are scored on career output against the best affordable five.
How to beat the formula
- 1. Old is cheap and old is good. The price docks a player 10% for age; the payoff does not care at all. A 36-year-old with 600 appearances is the single most reliable bargain on the board.
- 2. Trophies cost you and pay nothing. A fifth of the price comes from honours, which are a squad record and contribute zero output. A decorated squad player is the worst card in any round.
- 3. Goals are worth three appearances each — in the payoff. In the price they are worth less than that, so a prolific forward is usually underpriced relative to what he scores you.
- 4. Do not save the budget. Points left over are worth nothing at all; a cautious draft scores worse than an overreaching one that still fits.
- 5. Round five takes anybody. The wildcard is where a cheap veteran from any position rescues an expensive first four — plan for it before you overspend in round three.
A worked example
A wildcard round offering Sergio Busquets at 4 points. He looks like the worst card there: few goals, no youth left, a price a tenth of the alternatives. He is also carrying one of the largest league appearance records in the pool, and appearances are most of what the payoff counts. The formula sees an old midfielder who rarely scores; the game is asking whether you see the other thing. That gap — between what our price says and what a career actually was — is every round.
About the authors
Draft XI is maintained by the PlayFutbol Data Team. Cards are drawn only from players whose appearances, goals and honours all cleared the site's quality gates — pricing a player on an unverified goal total would put a number on a card that the rest of the site refuses to print.
Think a price is wrong? The formula is above — email data@playfutbol.app
Frequently asked questions
What is Draft XI?
A daily football draft. 5 rounds — goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, forward, wildcard — with 4 priced candidates in each and 100 points to spend across all five.
Are these real transfer values?
No, and this is the most important thing on the page. We do not hold transfer valuations and we are not going to invent one that looks like a market value. The price is a PlayFutbol rating computed from career figures already published on this site, the formula is printed in full below, and every card shows the four components that produced its number. It has no connection to Transfermarkt or any valuation service.
How is it scored?
On career output, not on how much you spent. Output is league appearances + 3 x league goals, and your five are compared against the highest-output five that the budget allows. Going over budget scores zero.
Why are price and score different numbers?
Because if they were the same the game would be a knapsack puzzle with a football skin — the best five would always be the most expensive five, and the benchmark landed on 97-100 every single day. Splitting them means the round asks a football question: which of these cards is the formula underrating?
How do I beat the formula?
The price includes age and trophies; the payoff does not. So a veteran with an enormous appearance record is cheap and valuable at the same time, while a young player at a decorated club is expensive and thin. Those two terms are where the edge lives.
Why do the caps look low?
Because appearances and goals here are league-scope, taken from the reconciled per-club figures. A striker fans remember for 800 career goals has a much lower league total, so the caps are set to league records rather than the all-competitions numbers.
How big is the pool?
562 players — 38 GK, 126 DEF, 197 MID, 201 FWD. Prices run from 4 to 87.
Why are all four candidates in a round differently priced?
Four cards at the same price is not a choice. Every round is built so the prices differ, which makes each one a real trade-off between what you spend now and what is left for later.
Can I get stuck with nothing affordable?
Not at the start — a board where the five cheapest candidates already blow the budget is rejected before it is served. You can still strand yourself by overspending early, which is the point.
Does everyone get the same board?
Yes. A seeded generator gives every player worldwide the same twenty cards for a given date.
Is there an archive?
Yes, the last 30 days are replayable and do not affect your daily streak.
Is it free?
Yes. No signup, no paywall, no ads inside the game.
Related daily football games
- Top Trumps — the same cards, played as a duel.
- Futbol 11 — build a starting eleven from eleven nations.
- Higher or Lower — compare career figures head to head.
Draft XI is maintained by the PlayFutbol Data Team · 562 priced players · prices are a PlayFutbol rating, not a market value · Last audited September 13, 2026 · Report corrections at support@playfutbol.app.