Starting lineup & starting XI graphic templates — animated

The pre-match ritual fans actually wait for

The lineup drop is the most anticipated post of the matchday cycle — players screenshot it, parents share it, opponents study it. It’s also the most tedious graphic to build by hand: eleven names, eleven numbers, eleven photos, in the right positions, every single match, usually at eight o’clock on a Friday night.

With your roster saved once, SportGraphics assembles the eleven for you. Pick the template, choose the formation, tap the starters into their slots, add the bench, and the graphic is done — names spelled the way the players spell them, numbers correct, photos in place.

Is there a tool that exports the lineup as an image for social media?

Yes — that is what these templates are. The lineup builds from the roster you saved at setup, and the finished graphic exports as a PNG for the feed or an MP4 for stories, in your club’s colours with your crest, the opponent and the kickoff on it. The honest caveat: the free plan holds one roster player and covers the Goal and Match Day events, so there is no free lineup export — the free path is a watermarked goal or matchday graphic. Lineup templates are on Basic ($9/mo) and Pro. Basic’s roster fits a full eleven; Pro’s eighteen-player roster fits the eleven plus the bench.

Team sheet graphics (UK & Ireland)

If your club posts a team sheet rather than a lineup, Heritage XI is the design built for it: the eleven listed down one side in reading order, a featured player — the captain, the returning striker, the academy debutant — alongside, and the subs underneath. It reads like the sheet pinned up in the dressing room, in the club’s colours. Tactical Board is the same eleven on a pitch map for the Saturday when you want to show the shape as well as the names.

Starting XI vs starting lineup

Same post, two dialects. “Starting XI” and “team sheet” are the football terms in the UK and Ireland; “starting lineup” and “roster” are the soccer terms in the US. The graphic doesn’t care which your caption uses — the title on the pitch designs reads STARTING 11, or STARTING 7 and STARTING 5 for small-sided teams, so a 7v7 youth side gets a proper lineup graphic rather than a squeezed eleven. Formations follow the team size: full-side shapes like 4-3-3 for elevens, the small-sided shapes for sevens and fives.

Lineup graphic video

Broadcast Reveal is the lineup design that makes the most of animation: a full-player intro that resolves into the starting XI on the pitch, the way a television rundown introduces a side before kickoff. Post the MP4 to stories an hour before kickoff and the still to the feed. Tactical Board and Heritage XI animate too — the formation reveals player by player, the list types in — so every lineup template gives you a video without opening After Effects.

Formation board, feature XI, or broadcast reveal

Tactical Board lays your eleven out on a pitch map in formation with player photos — the classic starting XI graphic. Heritage XI features one player beside the full list, and Broadcast Reveal animates the lineup across the pitch like a TV rundown. All three take the substitutes from the same roster (up to five for elevens, three for small-sided teams), carry the opponent, competition and kickoff along the bottom, and export watermark-free with MP4 on Basic ($9/mo) and Pro.