Connections: Soccer Edition hints & answers: Thursday, October 29, 2026

Updated: Thursday, October 29, 2026 · Hints reviewed by Omer Liban · New puzzle daily — free from The Athletic. · Puzzle editor: Will Jeanes.

This page has every level of help for the Connections: Soccer Edition puzzle of Thursday, October 29, 2026: 3 spoiler-free hint tiers that narrow things down step by step, followed by the complete answers with explanations — each behind its own tap-to-reveal card.

Stuck on today's Soccer Edition? Work the tiers below exactly like regular Connections — one answer per group, then the themes, then the full explained solution — revealing only what you choose. (Yes, it's the football one — 'soccer' is just the branding.)

Connections: Soccer Edition is The Athletic's football version of Connections — four colour-coded groups from easiest 🟡 yellow to trickiest 🟣 purple, all about the beautiful game: players, clubs, competitions, moments. Free to play.

Soccer Connections hints (October 29, 2026)

1One answer from each group

Yellow (easiest): one of its answers is “SPIDERCAM”.
Green (easy): one of its answers is “DRUM”.
Blue (tricky): one of its answers is “POGBA”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): one of its answers is “BRUYNE”.

2Category hints (no answers)

Yellow (easiest): the theme is “Sights around a stadium”.
Green (easy): the theme is “Object a fan may take to a game”.
Blue (tricky): the theme is “Paul _____”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): the theme is “De _____”.

3One full group revealed

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Sights around a stadium”, and its four answers are: SPIDERCAM, FLOODLIGHTS, TUNNEL, BIG SCREEN.

Soccer Connections answers — October 29, 2026

★Today's full Soccer Connections answers, explained

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Sights around a stadium”. The answers: SPIDERCAM, FLOODLIGHTS, TUNNEL, BIG SCREEN.
Green (easy) — the connection is “Object a fan may take to a game”. The answers: DRUM, FLARE, BANNER, FLAG.
Blue (tricky) — the connection is “Paul _____”. The answers: POGBA, SCHOLES, GASCOIGNE, INCE.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay) — the connection is “De _____”. The answers: BRUYNE, ZERBI, LIGT, PAUL.

The puzzle, explained

The purple group is all about "DE" — Kevin DE BRUYNE, Marco DE ZERBI, Matthijs DE LIGT, and Paul DE PAUL are all soccer figures where "DE" is actually part of their name, not just a prefix you're adding. The sneaky part is that PAUL works for both the blue group (Paul GASCOIGNE, Paul SCHOLES, Paul POGBA, Paul INCE) and the purple group (Paul DE PAUL), so that's your main bait. GASCOIGNE, SCHOLES, and INCE were all tempting purple answers because you might think "wait, could there be another famous DE person here?" but nope — they belong with POGBA in the "Paul" category. The wordplay twist is that DE PAUL has "Paul" in it twice, which makes it perfectly devious for the trickiest group.

Next in today's routine: Today's Puzzle Answers → · every game's answers on one page. New puzzle daily — free from The Athletic. Bookmark this page for tomorrow's hints. Or play Soccer Connections on the official site.

More of today's puzzles

LinkedIn puzzles

Soccer Connections — common questions

What is Connections: Soccer Edition?

The Athletic's football version of Connections, launched in June 2026: sixteen answers, four hidden groups, all of it football — players, clubs, competitions, kits, iconic moments. Free to play, and separate from the sports edition.

Is Soccer Connections about football?

Yes — 'soccer' is the branding of The Athletic's US newsroom, but the puzzles are thoroughly football: Champions League history, World Cup winners, grounds and managers all feature.

What do the colours mean in Soccer Connections?

Same as every Connections: yellow is the easiest group, then green, then blue, and purple the trickiest — typically wordplay or a link designed to catch fans out.

Previous Soccer Connections puzzles

Full Soccer Connections archive (157 puzzles) → · How to play Connections: Soccer Edition →