Board #960 — 17 August 2026
The daily soccer grid for 17 August 2026: its six categories, 360 valid answers across nine cells, and where the difficulty sat.
This was the daily board on 17 August 2026 — the 960th since the game began. Boards are generated from their date rather than stored, so this one can be rebuilt exactly, and you can still play it from the Archive tab in the game.
The six categories
Down the side
- Played for Bayern Munich
- African nation
- Played in the Bundesliga
Across the top
- Won the Champions League
- Won 2+ Champions Leagues
- Played for Man United
How the nine cells broke down
"Valid answers" is how many players in the dataset satisfied both categories. "Most obvious" is the best-known of them — the name most people reach for, and correspondingly the cheapest. "Best available" is the highest score anybody could have taken from that cell.
| Cell | Valid answers | Most obvious | Its value | Best available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played for Bayern Munich × Won the Champions League | 75 | Franz Beckenbauer | +45 | 🦄 +166 |
| Played for Bayern Munich × Won 2+ Champions Leagues | 14 | Franz Beckenbauer | +30 | 🟪 +47 |
| Played for Bayern Munich × Played for Man United | 7 | Daley Blind | +24 | 🟦 +36 |
| African nation × Won the Champions League | 30 | Mohamed Salah | +29 | 🦄 +127 |
| African nation × Won 2+ Champions Leagues | 4 | Samuel Eto'o | +13 | 💎 +76 |
| African nation × Played for Man United | 18 | André Onana | +31 | 🦄 +166 |
| Played in the Bundesliga × Won the Champions League | 155 | Erling Haaland | +53 | 🦄 +166 |
| Played in the Bundesliga × Won 2+ Champions Leagues | 23 | Franz Beckenbauer | +35 | 🌈 +60 |
| Played in the Bundesliga × Played for Man United | 34 | Henrikh Mkhitaryan | +35 | 🦄 +119 |
Where this board was won
The tightest cell was African nation × Won 2+ Champions Leagues, with just 4 valid answers in the entire dataset. The roomiest was Played in the Bundesliga × Won the Champions League at 155, a spread of 151.
That gap is the whole game. The roomy cells are where a careless player burns their obvious names for a handful of points each; the tight ones are where the board is actually decided. Anyone who spent Samuel Eto'o early would have found the last cell considerably harder — a player can only be used once per board.
Who actually qualified
A sample of up to 6 valid answers per cell, spread across the full range rather than taken from the top of it, so each list runs from the obvious pick down towards the deep cuts. The number beside a name is what that answer would have paid in that cell — the same player is worth a different amount in a different cell, which is most of the strategy.
Played for Bayern Munich × Won the Champions League
- Franz Beckenbauer+45
- Manuel Neuer+58
- Dante+61
- Sadio Mané+66
- Jens Jeremies+76
- David Gögh+166
…and 69 more.
Played for Bayern Munich × Won 2+ Champions Leagues
- Franz Beckenbauer+30
- Jérôme Boateng+35
- David Alaba+40
- Javi Martínez+44
- Owen Hargreaves+44
- Xabi Alonso+47
…and 8 more.
Played for Bayern Munich × Played for Man United
- Daley Blind+24
- Matthijs de Ligt+25
- Owen Hargreaves+28
- Bastian Schweinsteiger+30
- Marcel Sabitzer+31
- Joshua Zirkzee+36
…and 1 more.
African nation × Won the Champions League
- Mohamed Salah+29
- Salomon Kalou+44
- Édouard Mendy+49
- Samuel Kuffour+55
- Hakim Ziyech+69
- Rabah Madjer+127
…and 24 more.
African nation × Won 2+ Champions Leagues
- Samuel Eto'o+13
- Brahim Díaz+16
- Seydou Keita+19
- Geremi+76
African nation × Played for Man United
- André Onana+31
- Amad Diallo+35
- Mame Biram Diouf+39
- Hannibal Mejbri+46
- Jay-Jay Okocha+52
- Sophia C. Madumere+166
…and 12 more.
Played in the Bundesliga × Won the Champions League
- Erling Haaland+53
- Ibrahim Afellay+68
- Luiz Gustavo+72
- Maniche+77
- Flávio Conceição+90
- David Gögh+166
…and 149 more.
Played in the Bundesliga × Won 2+ Champions Leagues
- Franz Beckenbauer+35
- Dani Carvajal+43
- Lucas Vázquez+46
- Javi Martínez+49
- Toni Kroos+52
- Paulo Sousa+60
…and 17 more.
Played in the Bundesliga × Played for Man United
- Henrikh Mkhitaryan+35
- Wout Weghorst+46
- Mikaël Silvestre+49
- Christian Eriksen+54
- Kenny Cooper+75
- Ivana Fuso+119
…and 28 more.