GoalWord FAQ

GoalWord is a free daily football player guessing game. One mystery footballer is chosen for the day, and you have six guesses to identify them. Each wrong guess unlocks a clue, and every guess shows comparison feedback for nationality, position, birth year, and shared clubs.

Six. The first clue is available before your first guess. Every wrong guess unlocks one more clue, in this order: nationality, position, birth year, clubs, competitions, and a signature career fact.

Green means an exact match on that attribute. Amber means the birth year is within two years of your guess. Grey means no match. For birth year, an arrow tells you whether the mystery player is older or younger than the player you guessed.

You can only submit players in the GoalWord database. The autocomplete shows valid names, and it accepts common aliases and spellings without accents. If a player does not appear in the list, they are not a valid guess.

No. There is no timer on the daily, practice, or archive modes. You can leave the page and come back later; your progress is saved in your browser.

No. A submitted guess counts toward your six attempts. The autocomplete exists so you can choose the right player before committing. Take your time — there is no penalty for thinking.

Every day at 00:00 UTC (midnight UTC). The countdown on the game card shows the exact time remaining in your local timezone. The same puzzle is live for everyone during that UTC day.

No. Your streak, win rate, and guess distribution are stored in your browser’s local storage. There is no email address, password, or profile. Clearing site data or switching devices resets that local history.

Your current streak increases by one when you complete the daily challenge, whether you win or lose. It resets when you miss a daily challenge. Practice rounds and archive replays never change your streak.

The live daily challenge is designed to be played once. After the UTC reset, it moves to the archive, where you can replay it without affecting your daily stats.

After a round ends, press “Share result”. On a phone, this opens your native share sheet. On a desktop, it copies a compact emoji grid and score to your clipboard. The grid does not reveal the answer.

Your current streak resets, but your maximum streak and overall stats remain. You can replay the missed puzzle from the archive. Only the live daily challenge can extend or reset your current streak.

No. Practice rounds are stored separately from the daily challenge. They never change your streak, win rate, or guess distribution.

Yes. Practice is unlimited. Finish a round, press “New random player”, and keep going. Your current practice round is restored if you reload the page.

A daily challenge is added to the archive after its live day ends at 00:00 UTC. The current day’s puzzle stays on the home page until then.

You can reopen an archived challenge, but your replay progress is saved in the browser. To start a clean attempt, clear that archive entry from your browser’s site data. Archive replays never affect daily stats.

No. The football trivia quiz is a separate 20-question multiple-choice quiz. It does not affect your daily streak. It is a good warm-up or a change of pace from the guessing game.

The launch database contains 102 curated players from men’s and women’s football, across different eras, countries, and positions. The daily schedule is fixed, so the puzzle is the same for everyone.

Yes. The database mixes men’s and women’s football, and the daily schedule includes players from both. The clues use the same structure for every player.

GoalWord uses original abstract illustrations instead of photographs. This avoids licensing and likeness complications, keeps the page fast, and lets the focus stay on the clues rather than recognition.

Players are selected for recognisability, career significance, and a balanced mix of positions, countries, eras, and competitions. Every clue is tied to a documented fact. The editorial team reviews the database for accuracy.

Use the contact and support page to prepare a correction with the player, the clue, and a source if possible. Corrections are reviewed by the editorial team and applied to future puzzles. Past puzzle results are not changed retroactively unless the error affects the answer.

Yes. There is no paywall, account, or app download. The site is supported by advertising that appears in page content, never inside the game card or next to the guess controls.

GoalWord stores your game progress and consent choice in your browser’s local storage. If advertising is enabled, Google AdSense may set cookies or use local storage to personalise ads, depending on your consent choice. See the cookie policy for details.

Use the “Privacy settings” link in the footer. It reopens the consent banner, where you can accept or reject advertising cookies. You can also clear site data in your browser settings.

No. GoalWord does not sell personal information. Advertising is provided by Google AdSense, and consent choices control whether personalised advertising is allowed.

GoalWord is a general-audience football game, not a children’s product. It is not directed at children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and have a privacy concern, see the contact and support page for the current options.