World Champion
N°1
2022
4-3-3Argentina
Emiliano Martínez · Molina · Romero · Otamendi · Tagliafico · De Paul · Enzo Fernández · Mac Allister · Di María · Julián Álvarez · Messi
Messi's World Cup, sealed on penalties after a 3-3 final for the ages.
EDITION №3 · FIFA · 1930–PRESENT
World Cup Football 11.
Daily lineup builder restricted to nations with FIFA World Cup history. The broadest geographic variant.
Data: Transfermarkt · FIFA.com · Wikipedia · Last audited May 28, 2026
World Cup Edition · Data Footprint
40
Pool nations
679
Eligible players
5
Continents
82
Deepest · ENG
17.0
Avg per nation
5
Formations
Recomputed each rebuild from our 773-player database · Last audited May 28, 2026
7 Classic World Cup XIs
Seven World Cup-winning XIs, exactly as each side lined up in the final — from a teenage Pelé in 1958 to Messi’s Argentina in 2022.
World Champion
N°2
2018
4-2-3-1France
Lloris · Pavard · Varane · Umtiti · Lucas Hernández · Kanté · Pogba · Mbappé · Griezmann · Matuidi · Giroud
Mbappé's coming-out party at 19 — France's second star.
World Champion
N°3
2014
4-2-3-1Germany
Neuer · Lahm · Boateng · Hummels · Höwedes · Khedira · Schweinsteiger · Müller · Kroos · Özil · Klose
The first European team to win a World Cup in South America.
World Champion
N°4
2002
3-5-2Brazil
Marcos · Lúcio · Edmílson · Roque Júnior · Cafu · Gilberto Silva · Kléberson · Roberto Carlos · Ronaldinho · Ronaldo · Rivaldo
The 3R attack — Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho — and a record fifth title.
World Champion
N°5
1986
3-5-2Argentina
Pumpido · Brown · Cuciuffo · Ruggeri · Giusti · Batista · Burruchaga · Enrique · Olarticoechea · Maradona · Valdano
Maradona's tournament — from the Hand of God to lifting the trophy.
World Champion
N°6
1970
4-2-4Brazil
Félix · Carlos Alberto · Brito · Piazza · Everaldo · Clodoaldo · Gérson · Jairzinho · Tostão · Pelé · Rivelino
Widely called the greatest team ever to play the game.
World Champion
N°7
1958
4-2-4Brazil
Gilmar · Djalma Santos · Bellini · Orlando · Nílton Santos · Zito · Didi · Garrincha · Vavá · Pelé · Zagallo
A 17-year-old Pelé announced himself; Brazil’s first World Cup.
What is World Cup Football 11?
World Cup Football 11 is a daily browser game where you build a starting XI by picking one player from each of 11 nations with FIFA World Cup history. A new puzzle generates at local midnight; the same 11 countries appear for every player worldwide on a given date.
Heads-up: futbol-11.com officially discontinued their /futbol11-worldcup page on 2026-05-21. PlayFutbol uses a permanent /world-cup path that updates with each FIFA cycle, so links never go stale.
Why World Cup lineups are harder
The World Cup pool spans five confederations, so a single day can pair England (82 players) with a nation that has barely two. That asymmetry is the challenge: you might breeze through the European slots and then stall on a CONCACAF or AFC pick where only one or two legal players exist.
How to play in 4 steps
- 1
Pick a formation
Choose from 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 3-5-2, 3-4-3, or 5-3-2. Formations that can't be filled with today's 11 World Cup nations are greyed out.
- 2
Tap a position slot
Each slot is tied to one country from the day's eleven. The country shows at the top of the search box.
- 3
Search a player
Results are filtered to World Cup-eligible players from our 773-player database at the slot's position.
- 4
Fill all 11 slots
Complete every slot with one unique country. Share the emoji-grid result when you finish.
World Cup Edition vs Open Futbol 11 vs Football Grid
| World Cup Edition | Open Futbol 11 | PL Grid | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Country pool | 40 WC nations | 60+ global | Clubs only |
| Player pool | 679 WC-eligible | 773 (all) | ~280 PL-active |
| Continents | 5 (global) | 6 | N/A |
| Mechanic | Pick 11 by country | Pick 11 by country | Fill 3×3 grid |
| Best for | World Cup fans | Pure international fans | English specialists |
| Difficulty | Broadest geography | Standard | Hardest (cross-criteria) |
World Cup rewards breadth across six confederations; the Open edition samples globally.
Frequently asked questions
What is World Cup Football 11?
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World Cup Football 11 is a daily browser game where you build a starting XI by picking one player from each of 11 nations with FIFA World Cup history. A new puzzle generates at local midnight; the same 11 countries appear for every player worldwide on a given date.
Is this free?
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Yes — no signup, no paywall. Local-first; your streak and stats live only in your browser.
Which World Cup nations are in the player pool?
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The pool covers 40 nations with FIFA World Cup history that have ≥2 players in our database, totalling 679 players. UEFA dominates (462), followed by CONMEBOL (125), CAF (53), CONCACAF (20), and AFC (19).
How is this different from /futbol11-worldcup on other sites?
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Other sites used /futbol11-worldcup slugs locked to a specific tournament year (e.g. 'World Cup 2022'). PlayFutbol's /world-cup is permanent — the pool updates each cycle to include the latest qualifiers while preserving historical participants.
Does the daily puzzle include Qatar 2022 nations only?
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The pool floats — currently weighted toward recent World Cup squads but rotates to include historical participants once per week to keep variety. Specific year-locking is intentionally avoided so the URL stays stable.
Can I play past days?
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Practice Mode is unlimited. Dated daily archive is on the roadmap.
Why is goalkeeper the hardest position?
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Some smaller WC nations only have 0–1 goalkeepers in our database. When today’s 11 countries include a sparse nation, GK becomes a forced pick — often only one legal candidate exists.
Which continent has the deepest pool?
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UEFA — 462 eligible players. Followed by CONMEBOL (125), CAF (53), CONCACAF (20), AFC (19), OFC (0 — New Zealand has fewer than 2 players in our DB). The Open variant samples globally; World Cup Edition pulls only from WC-participating nations.
Where does data come from?
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Transfermarkt, Wikipedia, FIFA.com squad lists, and national federation rosters. Manually audited by the PlayFutbol Data Team.
Can I see all classic World Cup XIs?
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The Classic XIs section on this page lists 7 historical winning teams (1958 Brazil through 2022 Argentina). Practice Mode lets you re-seed for more variety.
Does World Cup Edition feed the same badges as Open Futbol 11?
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Yes — Polyglot, Perfect Day, Streak-30 all count plays across all 12 games. Variant-level streak isolation is planned but not currently active.
What is the difference between World Cup 11 and Missing XI?
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World Cup 11 = build a lineup of your choice from 11 different World Cup nations. Missing XI = find the hidden player in a specific historical lineup (5 of our 15 Missing XI matches are World Cup finals).
Build streaks across all 12 games
Playing the World Cup Edition counts toward PlayFutbol's cross-game achievement badges — Polyglot (play all 12 games), Perfect Day (finish all 12 in one day) and Early Bird (finish before local noon). The knowledge compounds too: a transfer fact you learn here pays off the next day in Futbol Grid, Missing XI, and Career Path.
By PlayFutbol Data Team · Data: Transfermarkt · FIFA.com · Wikipedia · Last audited May 28, 2026 · Report corrections at data@playfutbol.app