Game No. 626 of Connections: Sports Edition (June 11, 2026) is rated 3.5 out of 5 and comes with category spoilers for four colored groups—plus the full answer sets for players ready to check their work.
The trouble with Connections: Sports Edition is always the same: the hardest part isn’t finding links between words—it’s resisting the temptation to peek.
If you want to solve June 11, 2026’s puzzle No. 626 without spoilers, there’s a warning built into the experience itself: the answers and hints sit at the bottom of this page. Play first. Check later.
For those already past the point of curiosity, the game was listed at 3.5 out of 5 difficulty for Game No. 626.
The four categories, labeled by color as players solve, were:
Yellow: MEXICO CITY
Green: SOCCEROOS
Blue: UNITED STATES
Purple: LO CELSO
Below those hints, the full category answers are laid out—one set for each color. They are:
Yellow: 2026 World Cup host cities: ATLANTA. MEXICO CITY. PHILADELPHIA. TORONTO
Green: Nicknames of World Cup teams: LES ÉLÉPHANTS. ORANJE. SOCCEROOS. THREE LIONS
Blue: Christian Pulisic teams: AC MILAN. BORUSSIA DORTMUND. CHELSEA. UNITED STATES
Purple: Argentina World Cup players: LO CELSO. MAC ALLISTER. MESSI. PAZ.
For anyone jumping in mid-scroll, Connections: Sports Edition is described as The Athletic’s first-ever daily puzzle, designed to help players group 16 words into four categories of four. The goal is to get the connections right without making four mistakes; each puzzle has exactly one solution.
The game’s rules emphasize that categories can sometimes blur together—words and objects that feel like they might belong in more than one place are exactly the kind of traps designed for players to watch out for.
Puzzle examples shared alongside the description include Sports ____ : Fan, Car, Bar, Radio and U.S. Summer Olympians: Biles, Phelps, Ledecky, Lyles.
Each category is assigned a color—ranging from yellow (straightforward) to green (medium) to blue (challenging) to purple (tricky)—as the puzzle is solved.
The puzzle is created by Mark Cooper, identified here as the managing editor for college sports at The Athletic. His role is also described as previously serving as managing editor for breaking news.
The post also notes that the next puzzle will be available at midnight in each player’s time zone, and asks players to share their scores in the comments.
Connections: Sports Edition June 11 2026 puzzle No. 626 hints answers MEXICO CITY SOCCEROOS UNITED STATES LO CELSO Christian Pulisic
ATLANTA MEXICO CITY TORONTO PHILADELPHIA… so is this like host cities for something or just random sports words?
I didn’t even know they had a “Sports Edition” one. Guess I should’ve played first and looked later? The “3.5 out of 5” rating feels like a lie though lol.
Wait LO CELSO is in the purple one, but isn’t he like… a country? My brother told me it’s an Argentina thing but then it says Argentina players. I’m confused. Also why are there multiple nicknames like THREE LIONS and ORANJE in the same category?
So the blue category is Pulisic teams, right? AC MILAN BORUSSIA DORTMUND CHELSEA UNITED STATES. That last one doesn’t belong with clubs though, seems like the game is just trolling. Also I saw “United States” mentioned twice in the article like it’s part of Mexico City?? idk I lost track.