Fantasy XI is a free, skill-based salary-cap game — no luck of the draw, just picking well within a budget. For any match you pick a squad of 11 players inside 100 credits, choose a captain and vice-captain, and save before kickoff. Once the match is played, your team scores from real match statistics. Below is every rule and the complete points system, so you know exactly what you're being scored on.
The core rules
- Pick exactly 11 players for a single match.
- Stay within a 100-credit budget. Every player has a price.
- Role minimums: 1 goalkeeper, at least 3 defenders, at least 3 midfielders, and at least 1 forward.
- Exactly 1 goalkeeper is allowed (no more).
- Maximum 8 players from any single team.
- Choose one captain (2× points) and one vice-captain (1.5× points).
- Your team locks at the match kickoff time: no edits after that.
How the budget works
Each player carries a credit price, roughly between 6.0 and 12.5, based on their position and form — star strikers and proven goalscorers cost the most, rotation and squad players cost the least. The actual skill in this game is balancing premium picks against budget enablers so you can field a strong, legal XI without breaking 100 credits. If you'd rather start from something and adjust, Auto-fill gives you a quick legal team to tweak from there.
Captain and vice-captain
Your captain scores double (2×) their match points; the vice-captain scores 1.5× theirs. Both multipliers always apply — the vice is a second armband, not a fallback for a captain who doesn't play, which trips people up more than any other rule in the game. Captaincy is the single biggest swing you'll make, and the captain and vice-captain have to be two different players. This is a Fantasy XI rule specifically: our whole-gameweek game, Gameweek Fantasy, has one 2× captain and no vice-captain, because there you can move the armband right up to each player's own kickoff instead.
The points system
Fantasy XI uses FootballDream extended match statistics (shots on target, key passes, duels and more). Player Draft and Gameweek Fantasy use Premier League matchday scoring instead — see our Player Draft rules guide for that table.
Playing time
- Played 1 to 59 minutes +1. Substitutes who come off the bench score this too.
- Played 60 minutes or more +2. Stoppage time counts; extra time does not, because every statistic is measured over normal time only.
Attacking points
- Goal: Forward +4, Midfielder +5, Defender +6, Goalkeeper +10. Goals are worth more the further back the scorer plays, because they are rarer.
- Assist +3 (any position). The final pass or touch before a goal.
- Shot on target +1, for every shot that forces a save or goes in.
- Key pass +1, for every pass that creates a shot for a team-mate. If that shot is scored it becomes an assist instead, and the larger assist reward applies.
Defensive points
- Clean sheet: Goalkeeper or Defender +4, Midfielder +1. Requires at least 60 minutes played, and is judged on goals conceded while that player was on the pitch, so a defender substituted at 0-0 after 60 minutes keeps the clean sheet even if the team concedes later.
- Goalkeeper save bonus: +1 for every 3 saves, counted in complete groups of three.
- Penalty save +5, for a penalty saved during normal play.
- Goalkeeper shots faced: +1 for every 4 shots faced, rewarding a keeper under sustained pressure.
- Defensive contributions +2: awarded once when a defender reaches 7, or a midfielder or forward reaches 6, clearances, blocked shots, interceptions and tackles won added together. Goalkeepers are excluded, because their work is already rewarded through saves.
Duels
- Fouls won +1 for every 3, counted in complete groups of three.
- Fouls committed −1 for every 3, so an occasional foul costs nothing.
Negative points
- Goals conceded: −1 for every 2 conceded, goalkeepers and defenders only, and only for goals conceded while that player was on the pitch.
- Yellow card −1, red card −3. A red card is applied in addition to any yellow already shown in the same match.
- Own goal −2.
- Missed penalty −2, for a penalty saved or missed during normal play. Shoot-out penalties are never counted.
When does scoring happen?
As soon as the match finishes, FootballDream pulls real per-player statistics and scores every Fantasy XI automatically — no waiting around, no manual entry. Your captain and vice-captain multipliers get applied, and the per-match leaderboard updates so you can see exactly where you finished.