Board #968 — 25 August 2026
The daily soccer grid for 25 August 2026: its six categories, 269 valid answers across nine cells, and where the difficulty sat.
This was the daily board on 25 August 2026 — the 968th 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 in MLS
- Played for a North American club
- Played in the Bundesliga
Across the top
- Played for Ajax
- Dutch
- Won the Ballon d'Or
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 in MLS × Played for Ajax | 11 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | +15 | 💎 +89 |
| Played in MLS × Dutch | 7 | Nigel de Jong | +14 | 🌈 +68 |
| Played in MLS × Won the Ballon d'Or | 4 | Lionel Messi | +6 | 🌈 +56 |
| Played for a North American club × Played for Ajax | 16 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | +16 | 💎 +90 |
| Played for a North American club × Dutch | 12 | Nigel de Jong | +20 | 🦄 +166 |
| Played for a North American club × Won the Ballon d'Or | 8 | Lionel Messi | +15 | 🌈 +65 |
| Played in the Bundesliga × Played for Ajax | 71 | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | +43 | 🦄 +166 |
| Played in the Bundesliga × Dutch | 134 | Arjen Robben | +43 | 🦄 +166 |
| Played in the Bundesliga × Won the Ballon d'Or | 6 | Franz Beckenbauer | +18 | 🌈 +63 |
Where this board was won
The tightest cell was Played in MLS × Won the Ballon d'Or, with just 4 valid answers in the entire dataset. The roomiest was Played in the Bundesliga × Dutch at 134, a spread of 130.
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 Lionel Messi 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 in MLS × Played for Ajax
- Zlatan Ibrahimović+15
- Bojan Krkić+29
- Gregory van der Wiel+35
- Siem de Jong+43
- Jelle Van Damme+57
- Sherjill Mac-Donald+89
…and 5 more.
Played in MLS × Dutch
- Nigel de Jong+14
- Gregory van der Wiel+17
- Siem de Jong+27
- Dave van den Bergh+46
- Collins John+47
- Sherjill Mac-Donald+68
…and 1 more.
Played in MLS × Won the Ballon d'Or
- Lionel Messi+6
- Kaká+22
- Lothar Matthäus+34
- Hristo Stoichkov+56
Played for a North American club × Played for Ajax
- Zlatan Ibrahimović+16
- Nigel de Jong+35
- Lucas Ocampos+45
- Kerlon Moura Souza+52
- Jelle Van Damme+59
- Sherjill Mac-Donald+90
…and 10 more.
Played for a North American club × Dutch
- Nigel de Jong+20
- Edson Braafheid+25
- Vincent Janssen+32
- Collins John+52
- Sherjill Mac-Donald+74
- Iris Achterhof+166
…and 6 more.
Played for a North American club × Won the Ballon d'Or
- Lionel Messi+15
- Ronaldinho+21
- Kaká+28
- Lothar Matthäus+41
- George Best+48
- Hristo Stoichkov+65
…and 2 more.
Played in the Bundesliga × Played for Ajax
- Klaas-Jan Huntelaar+43
- Sébastien Haller+53
- Przemysław Tytoń+62
- Bryan Roy+71
- Gerald Sibon+87
- Oliver Koster+166
…and 65 more.
Played in the Bundesliga × Dutch
- Arjen Robben+43
- Micky van de Ven+60
- Anass Achahbar+82
- Rick Hoogendorp+106
- Jacintha Weimar+126
- Oliver Koster+166
…and 128 more.
Played in the Bundesliga × Won the Ballon d'Or
- Franz Beckenbauer+18
- Kaká+18
- Ousmane Dembélé+22
- Lothar Matthäus+32
- Gerd Müller+35
- Matthias Sammer+63