Missing 11 is a daily web-based puzzle game that challenges your knowledge of football history, player roles, and logical deduction. Unlike simple guessing games, your objective is to identify the entire starting eleven (lineup) from a single, specific historic football match (like a Champions League Final or a famous rivalry game).
It requires a strategy beyond just knowing famous names.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Game Type | Daily Trivia, Logic Puzzle |
| Objective | Guess the 11 starting players from a mystery match |
| Attempts | Unlimited guesses (Goal is lowest score/fewest attempts) |
| Challenge | New puzzle released daily |
| Platforms | Web Browser (Mobile and PC) |
How to Play Missing 11
The gameplay revolves around using the game’s positional feedback (clues) to figure out the specific match and the two teams involved.
1. The Mystery Grid
When you start the game, you are presented with an 11-row grid. Each row represents a player’s position (Goalkeeper, Defender, Midfielder, or Forward) from the mystery starting lineup. The two teams involved in the match are unknown, but are usually listed at the top.
2. Making a Guess
You can type the name of any professional footballer, past or present, into any empty slot in the grid. You are not penalized for guessing a wrong name, only for the number of attempts it takes to complete the lineup.
3. The Clues (Feedback)
After you submit a name, the game checks your guessed player against the correct player in that slot and provides color-coded feedback for three key attributes:
| Color | Clue | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Correct | Your guessed player’s attribute (Club, Position, or Nationality) is correct for that slot. |
| Yellow | Partial Match | Your guessed player’s attribute matches one of the two mystery teams/nations, but that player was not in the starting lineup. |
| Red | Incorrect | Your guessed player has no relevance to the mystery teams or the position. |
Experienced Strategies for Winning
Winning Missing 11 consistently means approaching it as a logic puzzle first, and a trivia game second. The goal is to figure out the match as quickly as possible, not the players.
1. The Match-Identifying Guess
The most effective opening move is to guess a globally famous player who has played for multiple top clubs and in many major tournaments (e.g., Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane).
- Why this works: You aren’t aiming for a Green box. You are trying to get a Yellow result in the Club and Nationality columns. A yellow result immediately confirms one of the two mystery teams or nations involved in the match, narrowing the puzzle down dramatically.
2. Targeting Positional Logic
If you get a Green result for a player’s Position, you now have a massive advantage:
- If you successfully guess a Goalkeeper (GK) whose position turns green, you know the match featured a team from that player’s club/nation/era. Focus your next few guesses only on other famous goalkeepers from that time period until you get another green, revealing the second team.
- The Defender (DEF) and Forward (FWD) slots are often the best for testing club/nation theories, as these players have less positional ambiguity than midfielders.
3. Using Nationality to Cross-Reference
A Green result in the Nationality column is powerful. If you see a row where the position is wrong but the nationality is correct (Green), you now know that one of the 11 missing players is from that country.
- This is especially useful for older, less famous matches where you might not recognize every player’s name, but can confirm the country (e.g., if you confirm the match is between Brazil and Italy, you can immediately eliminate players from Argentina).
Personal Insight on the Puzzle
I’ve learned that getting a correct name early on is often misleading. After solving dozens of these, I realized the real win is getting a Yellow Club or Nation result. When you see yellow, stop guessing for names and start searching for match lineups from the potential teams in that era. For example, a yellow for Manchester United and France immediately tells you to look up major international matches where France played the United Kingdom, or famous Champions League matches involving Man Utd and a French club. Once you have the two teams, you can look up their starting lineups and fill in the rest of the grid quickly.
Playing Missing 11 Online
You do not need an account or registration to play. The game is free and accessible daily on your web browser.
- Visit the official game website, Missing11.com.
- The daily challenge loads automatically.
- You can easily play on both a PC (using your keyboard) or a mobile device (using the on-screen keyboard).
FAQs
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How often is a new puzzle released? | A new mystery match is chosen and released daily, typically at midnight UTC. |
| Can I play old challenges? | No, the game only offers the current day’s puzzle. |
| How many times can I guess a player? | You can guess as many different players as you need across the 11 slots. The score is based on the total number of unique guesses it takes to complete the entire lineup. |
