NYT Connections Soccer Edition Puzzle #38 — Answers for July 18, 2026
🔥 View Today's Hints & Progressive Clues →✅ Full Answers
🟨 Types of Play in Soccer
FAIR
FOUL
OPEN
SET
🟩 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot Winners
EUSÉBIO
HARRY KANE
JAMES RODRÍGUEZ
MBAPPÉ
🟦 Soccer Injury and Medical Terms
DIAGNOSED
PROGNOSIS
SIDELINED
STRETCHER
🟪 Associated with ASEAN / Asian Football Tournaments
BEACH
ROOM
SUZUKI
ZIDANE
🎯 Strategy Tips
Start by knocking out the "Play" phrases (FAIR, FOUL, etc.) as they form a very tight, classic word association group. From there, look closely at the player images; identifying Kane and James Rodríguez immediately locks in the World Cup Golden Boot winners, helping you avoid wasting guesses on the Zidane red herring.
⚠️ Red Herring Warning: Watch out for the player trap! It's incredibly tempting to group ZIDANE with the other legendary World Cup icons like Mbappé, Kane, and Eusébio. However, Zinedine Zidane famously won the Golden Ball (Best Player), not the Golden Boot (Top Scorer), meaning he belongs to the regional Asian soccer tournament category alongside SUZUKI.