How to play Connections: Soccer Edition
Soccer Edition is the football-only version of Connections: sixteen answers, four hidden groups of four, and every category drawn from the game — Champions League history, World Cup winners, grounds, managers, kits and commentary clichés. American branding, thoroughly football content.
Stuck on today's board? Connections Soccer Edition Hints Today → — spoiler-safe tiers, from one nudge to the full explained answers.
The rules
- Sixteen answers hide four groups of four — select four you believe belong together and submit.
- Groups are colour-coded by difficulty: 🟡 yellow easiest, then 🟢 green, 🔵 blue, and 🟣 purple, the trickiest.
- Four mistakes end the game. "One away…" means exactly three of your picks were right.
- Every answer fits exactly one group — the surname that suits two clubs is the trap, every time.
Strategy for football fans
1One-club words rarely are
See COLE, SILVA, JAMES or WALKER and your brain shouts one player — but the editors chose those names because three others share them. Before grouping surnames, ask which era and which league each answer could also belong to.
2Purple is usually wordplay, not knowledge
The trickiest group tends to be structural: words hiding club names, "___ derby" fills, homophones of stadiums. If four leftovers share no footballing logic, stop thinking like a fan and start thinking like a crossword solver.
3Date-check your certainties
Categories like "Champions League winners" often have a qualifier — consecutive titles, a specific decade, one nation. Recite the exact fact for each of your four picks; the one you can't pin down is usually the plant.
4Bank the safe group first
As in every Connections: submit your most certain group even if it's yellow. Each solved group shrinks the pool, and the traps become obvious leftovers instead of tempting picks.
Connections: Soccer Edition — 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.