Puzzle No. 13 is rated 4 out of 5 for difficulty — and if you've landed here, that tracks. Today's board leaned hard on football history, with demolished stadiums and classic video games sitting alongside FIFA governance and cult movies. Here's everything you need.
Today's hints (spoiler-free)
Before the full answers, one clue per category if you're not quite ready to give up:
- Yellow: UEFA
- Green: FIFA STREET
- Blue: THE FOOTBALL FACTORY
- Purple: MAINE ROAD
Full answers for June 23, 2026
Here's the complete breakdown of all four categories in today's Connections: Soccer Edition puzzle:
- Yellow – FIFA Confederations: CAF, UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF
- Green – Soccer video games: PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER, FIFA, FOOTBALL MANAGER, FIFA STREET
- Blue – Soccer movies: BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, ESCAPE TO VICTORY, THE FOOTBALL FACTORY, GREEN STREET
- Purple – Demolished English soccer stadiums: UPTON PARK, WHITE HART LANE, MAINE ROAD, FILBERT STREET
The purple category was the real trap today. Filbert Street — Leicester City's old home, gone since 2002 — is the kind of answer that separates casual fans from proper football obsessives. Upton Park and White Hart Lane are better known, but Filbert Street? That one hurt if you didn't get it.
The blue category (soccer movies) had a similarly sneaky edge. Green Street shares a word with GREEN in the confederation category, and Filbert Street shares STREET with both FIFA STREET and FILBERT STREET. The puzzle designer clearly enjoys watching people suffer.
Connections: Soccer Edition is a daily puzzle built around the 2026 World Cup, created by Will Jeanes, senior editor at The Athletic. The format mirrors the New York Times' Connections game — 16 words, four groups of four, three mistakes allowed before the game ends. A new puzzle drops at midnight in your local time zone.
