Longest winning streaks in football history

In 2003/04, London’s Arsenal carved itself into the history books forever when it won the Premier League without losing a single game in the season. Out of 38 games, they won 26 and finished 12 with a draw. But who has the longest winning streak in the football world?

Olybet.TV leafed through the history books a little and brings you the ten longest winning streaks in the world of football. We can jump ahead a bit and say that there are quite a few surprises on the list!

10th place – Palmeiras, 21 wins (1996)

The 25-time Brazilian champion was impressive under Vanderlei Luxemburgo in 1996. In the first phase of the season, when the regional or Paulista champion was determined, they won 27 out of 30 matches, including 21 in a row!

The team was led by Luizao and the later superstar Rivaldo, who scored 22 and 18 goals respectively in the Paulista Championship.

The only problem with this season was that, apart from the Sao Paolo regional trophy, Palmeiras did not win anything back then. In the final of the Brazilian Cup, they lost to Cruzeiro over two games, and in the Brazilian Championship, where the champion is also decided in a play-off, they lost to eventual champions Gremio in the quarterfinals.

9th place – Manchester City, 21 wins (2020/21)

Pep Guardiola has proven everywhere that he can win, but in the COVID year, the skilled Spaniard surprised even himself when he won 21 matches in a row in all series in the 2020/21 season.

It should be noted here that before this, the longest winning streak of English football clubs came from a time when the phrase “penalty area” was not even mentioned in the football rules. Preston North End won 14 matches in a row in 1892.

8th place – Real Madrid, 22 wins (2014)

Real Madrid football club started the 2014/15 season with a bang, winning 22 consecutive matches under Carlo Ancelotti. At the end of the season, however, it meant nothing, because the Spanish royal club was then left empty-handed in the domestic league, the cup series and the Champions League, and Ancelotti was relieved of his duties.

7th place – Bayern Munich, 23 wins (2019/20)

“Success cannot be bought, only rented. But the rent must be paid every day,” Hansi Flick, Bayern’s head coach at the time, said.

In the 2019/20 season, however, Bayern’s players under Flick paid this rent very dutifully, winning 23 consecutive matches in all leagues and ending the season with three trophies: the German championship, the cup, and the Champions League trophy.

The only blemish on that victory march lies in the fact that it happened in the year of COVID, that is, the fans were not there to see it all in the stadiums.

6th place – Coritiba, 24 wins (2011)

Fun fact: Before Coritiba won 24 games in a row in 2011, they had never even experienced a 10-game winning streak.

Most of the club’s victories at that time came regionally, from the Parana championship, but in addition to that, they also reached the final of the Brazilian Cup, where they still had to admit Vasco da Gama’s superiority due to the now-defunct away goals rule.

5th place – Ajax Amsterdam, 25 wins (1995)

Louis van Gaal has won very, very many times over the years, but all his later triumphs pale next to the 1994/95 season when he steered his own (!) Ajax Amsterdam lads to Champions League glory. On the way to the cup, his men also won 25 consecutive matches.

4th place – Ajax Amsterdam, 26 wins (1971/72)

When Rinus Michels, the father of total football, moved from Ajax to FC Barcelona in the summer of 1971, the rest of the Dutch clubs did a victory dance. Because they expected the hegemony of the big club in Amsterdam to end.

They were wrong, because Stefan Kovacs, who took over, gave even more freedom to the club’s stars, led by Johan Cruyff, Piet Keizer and Johnny Rep, and Ajax again won everything that could be won: the domestic league, the cup, and the Champions League. And 26 consecutive matches as well.

3rd place – TNS, 26 wins (2023/24)

The New Saints, or TNS, as they are known after the Welsh Premier League club’s long-time sponsor Total Network Solutions, were convinced when they beat Newtown on February 6th this year that they became the record holders when they won 28 matches in a row.

However, the people of the Guinness Book did not think so, as this series also includes one October Cup game, which was won only with a penalty shootout. In other words, in terms of normal and extra time, that match ended in a draw…

At the same time, the Welsh can still grab the respective top mark soon, since that cup match on October 15th, they have won 26 matches in a row.

Next up for them is a Welsh-Scottish Cup final clash with Airdireonians on March 24th, followed by a home cup final and four Welsh Premier League fixtures. So, in theory, the top mark may fall!

2nd place – TNS, 27 wins (2016)

Or at least the club’s own record, because TNS, which won 27 consecutive matches in 2016, is also in second place on the list of consecutive victories.

1st place – Al-Hilal, 29 wins (2023/24)

However, the world record for consecutive wins is currently held by 18-time Saudi Arabian champions Al-Hilal, known to most football fans as Neymar’s current home club.

Al-Hilal grabbed this record most recently on March 13th when they beat Al-Ittihad 2-0 in the Asian Champions League. Next, they extended that to 29 the same weekend when they beat Damac at home. The next game was also a victory, this time over Al-Shabab at the end of March.

It’s hard to predict how long their winning streak could last at this point, but it has great potential: this year alone, the club has at least 13 more games to go. The club’s next game – already tonight!

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Still Flora, not Levadia?

Although the longest unbeaten streak in Estonian football belongs to Levadia, which did not lose in 61 home league matches in 2008 and 2009, the longest winning streak of our clubs does not come from the same period.

This is because 1) Levadia had some draws thrown in and 2) Euro and cup games have been excluded from this series. Thus, Levadia’s longest winning streak of that period remained at 11.

Although we are not saying it is the absolute truth, Tallinna FC Flora was certainly victorious in 12 consecutive matches at the beginning of 2022. Perhaps Levadia shouldn’t sit on that throne still.