How to Play
Sort 16 players into 4 hidden groups of 4. Each group shares one real thing from their careers — a club, two clubs, a country, an academy, a trophy or a record. Pick your level first: Easy and Normal have no mistake limit, Hard gives you 5.
Choose difficulty
Easy only uses big clubs, big nations and awards. Normal and Hard play the same board; Hard limits your mistakes.
A new puzzle every day at your local midnight.
How to Play Football Connections
Football Connections puts sixteen footballers in front of you and tells you almost nothing. They belong to four hidden groups of four, and every group shares one real thing from their careers: a club they played for, two clubs they both passed through, a country, a youth academy, a trophy or a record. The difficulty is not finding a connection — it is finding the *right* one, because most of these players connect to each other in more ways than one.
How a round works
Select four cards and press Submit. If those four are exactly one of the hidden groups, they lock in as a coloured bar and leave the board; if not, it counts as a mistake. When three of your four belong together the game tells you "One away!" — your idea is right and only one card is wrong (that guess still counts as a mistake). Easy and Normal have no mistake limit; Hard allows 5 mistakes. On every level the Give up button reveals the groups whenever you like; the game counts as a loss.
Levels and kinds of connection
- Easy — a separate board: only big clubs (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United…), big football nations, the World Cup and the Ballon d'Or, with the best-known players from each group.
- Normal and Hard — the same board, every kind of group: one club, two clubs, club + nationality, academy, trophies and records, same first name.
- Club groups are the easiest to spot, so the board often uses them as bait.
- Two-club and club + nationality groups are the hardest: a player has to meet both conditions.
How to open
The single most reliable habit is to not submit your first idea. The board is built so that the obvious grouping is nearly always over-full: you will see five players from the same club or six from the same country, and only four of them belong. Instead, look for the narrowest connection first — two clubs, an academy or a record. Solving the awkward group early removes four cards and turns the remaining twelve into a much simpler puzzle.
When you are stuck
- Count how many candidates each idea has. If you can name six players for a connection, it is not that connection — groups are exactly four.
- Use "One away" properly. Do not resubmit the same four with a different card at random; work out which of your four is the least certain.
- Solve by elimination. A card that fits no group you can see usually belongs to the connection you have not thought of yet.
- Leave the club group for last. It is the one you can always find, so it is the one that can wait.
Where the players come from
Groups are built from players' real careers: the clubs they played for, their national teams, academies, awards and records. Only well-known players make the board — current players and legends alike. Images come from TheSportsDB. The same four players never return in the same group within a year.
Scoring, sharing and the daily reset
There is no points total — what you keep is whether you solved it and in which order. The share button copies a spoiler-free grid of coloured squares showing the order you cracked the groups, so a friend can see how your mind moved without seeing a single name. A new set of sixteen arrives at midnight in your own time zone, identical for everybody on that date.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you play Football Connections?
You sort 16 footballers into 4 hidden groups of 4. Each group shares something from their careers — the same club, two clubs, the same national team, an academy, a trophy or a record. Pick 4 players and submit; a correct group locks in as a coloured bar.
How many mistakes am I allowed?
It depends on your level: Easy and Normal have no limit, Hard allows 5. On every level you can give up whenever you like. A guess with 3 right shows "One away!" but still counts as a mistake.
Do the groups change every day?
Yes — a brand-new set of 16 players and 4 groups is picked every midnight in your local time zone. Everyone playing that day faces the same puzzle.
Which players can appear in the puzzle?
Well-known players from groups built on real career data — current players and legends. Easy only uses the best-known names from big clubs, nations and awards.
How do I share my result?
When the game ends (win or lose), hit "Copy Result" to copy a spoiler-free colored emoji grid showing the order you solved the groups — share it anywhere without giving away the answers.
What's the difference between Easy, Normal and Hard?
Easy is a separate board: only big club, nation and award groups, with no mistake limit. Normal is today's board with no mistake limit. Hard is the same board with 5 mistakes allowed. You pick your level each day when you start; you can't change it that day.