Sports
Ben Brereton Diaz and the longest runs without winning a Premier League match
It’s early days, but you fear Southampton might set a few unwanted records this season.
After seven games, they are winless, with only a point to their name and just four goals scored.
At least the club has the faint afterglow of success from winning promotion last season, though there is one member of their team who doesn’t even have that — and, instead, has within his sights one of the more undesirable individual records around.
Step forward Ben Brereton Diaz, who has played 20 Premier League games in his career so far — six for Southampton, 14 for Sheffield United last season — without winning any. That is the record for the most games played by someone who has never won a Premier League game, ahead of Marvin Sordell on 17, and Emanuel Villa on 16.
Players with no Premier League wins
| Player | Club(s) | Winless games |
|---|---|---|
|
Ben Brereton Diaz |
Sheffield United, Southampton |
20 |
|
Marvin Sordell |
Burnley, Bolton |
17 |
|
Emmanuel Villa |
Derby County |
16 |
|
Willo Flood |
Manchester City |
14 |
|
Jonathan Leko |
West Bromwich Albion |
14 |
|
Edo Kayembe |
Watford |
13 |
|
Jonathan Rowe |
Norwich City |
13 |
Unlike that duo, he still has a chance of celebrating his first victory. However, the Chile international is also in danger of setting the record for the most games played by an individual before being involved in a Premier League win (see table below).
This, hopefully, is not designed to denigrate or mock Brereton Diaz. He has just been unfortunate enough to play for a couple of struggling sides. You could argue he has been part of those struggling sides, so bears at least some of the responsibility for the failure to win. But with six goals in 14 games for Sheffield United, he ended the season as their joint-top scorer despite only joining in January, while he has frequently looked like Southampton’s most threatening attacker this term.
His teams haven’t won any games, but it’s not necessarily his fault.
Brereton Diaz, then with Sheffield United, shoots against Tottenham last season (Barrington Coombs/PA Images via Getty Images)
You could even argue that Brereton Diaz is almost being punished for being good. If you’re a terrible player in a terrible team, you probably aren’t going to stay in that team. But if you’re a decent player in a terrible team, you’ll be out there every week, your win-loss record at the mercy of the dysfunction around you.
In any case, the list of players who have taken a long time to get their first win isn’t exactly full of complete duds.
Take Gareth Bale, who appeared in 24 games for Tottenham before he claimed his first Premier League victory. His was a slightly different case, because it wasn’t down to him joining a struggling team, but more an odd quirk of his first two seasons at Tottenham; a combination of coincidence, poor form and injury conspiring to keep him out of the games Spurs won in that time.
Bale joined Spurs from Southampton in 2007 and, while he had to wait a long time for his first Premier League success, he did win in his fourth appearance for their first team when they beat Anorthosis Famagusta 6-1 in the UEFA Cup.
Having appeared sporadically in the following months, his season was ended in December by an ankle injury. He returned at the start of the following season, when Spurs infamously took just two points from their first eight games, but missed their first victory of the season because he had been sent off in the previous match. From there, he was in and out of the team, variously injured or out of favour, but his presence always coincided with draws or defeats and the team won plenty of times in his absence.
But his winless Premier League run became a running joke, one of the early football social media memes after Opta spotted the unfortunate statistic. In the end, it spanned 1,607 minutes over those 24 games, lasting 762 days and taking in three Spurs managers.
Premier League games before first win
| Player | Club(s) | Games |
|---|---|---|
|
Oliver Burke |
West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield United |
25 |
|
Gareth Bale |
Tottenham Hotspur |
24 |
|
Nicky Summerbee |
Swindon Town, Manchester City |
23 |
|
Craig Fagan |
Birmingham City, Derby County |
23 |
|
Giles Barnes |
Derby County, West Bromwich Albion |
22 |
|
Jan Aage Fjortoft |
Swindon Town |
20 |
|
Adam Idah |
Norwich City |
19 |
|
Carles Gil |
Aston Villa |
18 |
|
Robert Earnshaw |
West Bromwich Albion |
18 |
|
Dean Gordon |
Crystal Palace |
17 |
|
Andrew Todd |
Bolton Wanderers |
17 |
He eventually broke the streak on a bit of a technicality: he came on in the closing stages of Tottenham’s victory over Burnley in September 2009, when they were already 4-0 up and eventually won 5-0. And that was a deliberate move by then Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, to shake the unwanted statistical millstone. Redknapp told talkSPORT in 2019: “I stuck him on against Burnley… with six minutes to go. I thought, ‘He can’t mess this up!’”
He didn’t. And over the following years, he went on to win scores of games basically on his own so, by the time he left for Real Madrid in 2013, he was significantly in credit.
“It was a bit annoying that people went on about that statistic but it didn’t affect me at all,” Bale told The Guardian in 2010 after things had turned around. “It was just one of those things that freakily happened. I knew as soon as I got my chance to play we’d win a few games and it’d be done.”
Bale had to wait 24 games to taste victory with Tottenham in the Premier League (Clive Rose/Getty Images)
The current unfortunate record holder is Scottish forward Oliver Burke, who took an excruciating 25 games to taste Premier League victory for the first time.
Burke played his first Premier League game for West Brom in August 2017 after joining from RB Leipzig, but injuries ensured he only played in 15 matches, none of which West Brom won. And in his defence, they didn’t win many without him, either: this was the season in which they were relegated, went through four managers and endured an ill-fated mid-season trip to Barcelona where a group of players stole a taxi from outside a McDonald’s.
As for Burke, he reappeared in the Premier League a couple of years later, signing for Sheffield United at the end of the summer 2020 transfer window. Again, he wasn’t a regular, so had to wait until the January of that season before contributing to a win, which came against Newcastle.
The Blades were also relegated, so Burke has only played in two Premier League seasons, both of which have ended in the drop. Poor Oliver. He is currently with Werder Bremen after a couple of injury-hit loans at Millwall and Birmingham City.
Rob Earnshaw is another name in the top 10 who can’t be entirely blamed for not collecting a victory for a long time. It took 18 games before he won one for West Brom in 2004-05, but he did rattle up 11 goals that season, was the Baggies’ top scorer and, in terms of minutes per goal, he was second only to Thierry Henry in the whole division that season.
“The context of that season and that team was lots of new players,” Earnshaw tells The Athletic. “It was a team that wasn’t really expected to be in the Premier League. We were trying to figure each other out: I had about five different strike partners in that season. You’re always trying to get those relationships, so that’s perhaps why it took so long (to get a win).”
Earnshaw in a rare moment of joy for West Brom in the autumn of 2004 (Nick Potts – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
That chopping and changing of the team’s forward line was also a reason why Earnshaw missed their rare victories. West Brom got their first three points in their eighth league game, a 2-1 win over Bolton in October, but Earnshaw was an unused substitute. Which itself presents a curious dilemma: when you haven’t won a game yet yourself, how do you feel when your team wins without you contributing?
“It’s a very strange thing, a very weird dynamic,” he says. “No 1, you’re always super happy when you win. I was always the first one to celebrate and congratulate my team-mates. But there’s always a weird feeling of disappointment. The No 1 thing is, that little kid in you just wants to play football and win games.”
Jan Aage Fjortoft is another unfortunate name on the list, having taken 20 games to earn his first first victory with Swindon in 1993-94. Swindon only won two games in the first half of that season, and Fjortoft missed both of them. But, unlike Earnshaw, he wasn’t a victim of squad rotation or injury: he missed those games because he wasn’t scoring goals.
After moving to Swindon for a club-record fee from Rapid Vienna following their promotion to the Premier League, Fjortoft did not find the net at all before the turn of the year.
“You start thinking, ‘Maybe the way I play doesn’t fit here — maybe I have to change’,” he tells The Athletic. “That’s the worst phase, because then you’re going nowhere. You’re building up to that moment, hopefully, when you get that first goal. But then you realise you just have to do what you do, because that’s good enough.
“It was a very testing time, and the thing that saved me was I was scoring goals for Norway, though that made it even more complicated in my head. Eventually, I wasn’t in the team as much, which is normal: Swindon had paid a lot of money for me to score goals.
“I was more annoyed that I didn’t break the code. I had played against these players before for Norway. We’d won against England. Why couldn’t I break this thing called the Premier League?”
Fjortoft celebrates scoring a goal for Swindon against Manchester United (Andy Heading/EMPICS via Getty Images)
Things reached a nadir when Fjortoft — still winless and goalless — played a reserve game against Wycombe Wanderers on Christmas Eve in which he was “out of 22 players… the worst on the pitch”. With the 1994 World Cup looming and his spot in the Norway team under threat, he arranged a loan back to his former club Lillestrom.
But then Keith Scott, who had been playing up front for Swindon instead of Fjortoft, was cup-tied for a game against Ipswich in the FA Cup. Fjortoft played, scored and kept his place for the league game against Tottenham a few days later. In that game he finally secured his first league goal, and first win in the English top flight, after 20 unsuccessful attempts, as they beat Spurs 2-1.
“It was fantastic,” he says. “There was a lot of relief for myself, but we beat Tottenham, and we were allowed to dream. Could we make it? Could we get enough points to stay up?”
Fjortoft had a sensational second half to the season: having failed to score at all in his first 20 games, he managed 11 in his next 16, although it wasn’t enough to save Swindon from relegation, broadly down to them conceding a whopping 100 goals.
Ultimately, it would be hugely unfair to treat Brereton Diaz or any of the players mentioned here as figures of fun. Not least because, by even making it to the Premier League, they’re already in the top one per cent of the top one per cent.
“When you get a chance to play in the Premier League, the playing is the actual achievement,” adds Earnshaw. “That’s the dream. You’re playing against the very best.”
(Top photo: Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images)
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We’re approaching the biggest sporting event North America has ever hosted.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup takes place across the USA, Canada and Mexico in 13 days.
Bettors and fans already have their sights set on the global spectacle, which will kick off on June 11. The World Cup final will be held at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on July 19, 2026.
After the World Cup groups were announced in December, Spain opened as the favorite at +450, followed by England (+550) and France (+750).
Now, with less than two weeks to go, Spain has slightly drifted to +475, with both France and England making up ground on the oddsboard.
Let’s dive into the odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 29.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
2026 World Cup winner odds
Spain: +475 (bet $10 to win $57.5 total)
France: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
England: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Brazil: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)
Argentina: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Portugal: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Germany: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Netherlands: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Norway: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Belgium: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Colombia: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Morocco: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Uruguay: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
United States: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Switzerland: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total)
Japan: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total)
Mexico: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Croatia: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Ecuador: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Senegal: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Sweden: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
HOST NATIONS
United States
The United States is led by Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, and Chris Richards, with several players competing in Europe’s top leagues. The U.S. has appeared in 11 previous World Cups, with its best finish coming in 1930 when the team reached the semifinals.
Canada
Canada’s key players include Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David, giving the squad top-tier pace and goal-scoring ability. Canada has made two previous World Cup appearances, and is still looking for its first win ever in the tournament.
Mexico
Mexico’s top contributors include Raul Giménez and Edson Álvarez, forming a strong mix of attacking talent and midfield stability. Mexico has played in 17 previous World Cups and reached the quarterfinals twice, in 1970 and 1986.
UEFA TEAMS TO KNOW
Spain
Spain’s top talents include Pedri, Lamine Yamal and Rodri, forming a core that blends elite playmaking with scoring depth. Spain has appeared in 16 previous World Cups and won the tournament once, lifting the trophy in 2010. The team also won the 2024 Euros.
France
France enters with Kylian Mbappé as the star player, with the 26-year-old just five goals shy of passing Miroslav Klose (16) for the most career goals at the World Cup. France has made 16 previous World Cup appearances and won the title twice, in 1998 and 2018.
England
England’s key players include Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice, forming one of the nation’s strongest generations in decades. England has reached 16 previous World Cups and won the trophy once, in 1966.
Germany
Germany features Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala and Joshua Kimmich as central figures in a talented squad. Germany has participated in 20 previous World Cups and won four titles, most recently in 2014.
Portugal
Portugal’s top group includes Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, with Cristiano Ronaldo still involved as the team’s all-time leading scorer and cap leader. Portugal has competed in eight previous World Cups and recorded its best finish in 2006, reaching the semifinals.
Netherlands
The Netherlands features top players such as Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Denzel Dumfries, forming a core built around elite defending and midfield control. Memphis Depay should also be on the team, the country’s all-time leading goalscorer. The Netherlands has appeared in 11 previous World Cups and finished as runner-up three times, in 1974, 1978 and 2010.
CONMEBOL TEAMS TO KNOW
Argentina
Argentina is anchored by Lionel Messi, with Julián Álvarez, Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez— headlining one of the most talented rosters in the tournament. Argentina has played in 18 previous World Cups and won three, including the most recent tournament in 2022.
Brazil
Brazil’s roster is led by Vinícius Júnior, Raphinha and Marquinhos, giving the team elite attacking and defensive quality. Brazil has appeared in every World Cup and holds a record five titles, with its most recent one coming in 2002.
Uruguay
Uruguay’s leading players include Federico Valverde, Darwin Núñez and Ronald Araújo, forming a core with elite midfield range and speed. Uruguay has appeared in 14 previous World Cups and won the tournament twice, in 1930 and 1950.
Colombia
Colombia is headlined by Luis Díaz and James Rodríguez, with the former playing for Bayern Munich and the latter having a decorated World Cup résumé. Colombia has made six previous World Cupsand recorded its best finish in 2014, reaching the quarterfinals.
CAF TEAMS TO KNOW
Morocco
Morocco’s key contributors include Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazaroui and Brahm Díaz, each with major European club experience. Morocco has appeared in six previous World Cups and achieved its historic best finish in 2022, reaching the semifinals.
Senegal
Senegal’s top players include Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly and Idrissa Gueye, forming one of Africa’s most experienced cores. Senegal has appeared in three World Cups and reached its best finish in 2002, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Ghana
Ghana is led by Mohammed Kudus, Antoine Semenyo and Inaki Williams, giving the squad strong playmaking and midfield presence. Ghana has competed in four previous World Cups and reached its best result in 2010, making the quarterfinals.
AFC TEAMS TO KNOW
South Korea
South Korea is headlined by Son Heung-min, supported by key players such as Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in. South Korea has played in 11 previous World Cups and reached its best finish in 2002, advancing to the semifinals as co-host.
Japan
Japan features Takefusa Kubo and Kaoru Mitoma as its leading players, blending top European experience with emerging talent. Japan has appeared in seven previous World Cups and reached the Round of 16 four times, its best result to date.
Australia
Australia’s top players include Jackson Irvine and keeper Mathew Ryan as its most experienced members. Australia has competed in six previous World Cups and reached the round of 16 twice, in 2006 and 2022.
OFC TEAMS TO KNOW
New Zealand
New Zealand is led by all-time leading scorer Chris Wood, with 45 international goals to his name. New Zealand has appeared in two previous World Cups (1982, 2010), and did not advance from the group stage in either appearance.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander apparently isn’t amused by a new board game that pokes fun at the Oklahoma City Thunder star’s reputation for garnering foul calls at the hint of contact by an opposing player.
Last week, a lawyer representing the two-time reigning NBA MVP sent a cease-and-desist letter to sports prediction market and fantasy sports company Underdog that includes a demand for the destruction of all copies of the cheeky and extremely limited-edition game Unethical Hoops.
Done in the style of the children’s classic Operation, Unethical Hoops requires players to use tweezers to pull objects from tiny holes, with the slightest touch of a metal border setting off a buzzer indicating failure.
Instead of pretending to be doctors attempting to remove body parts from a patient, however, Unethical Hoops players act as members of an opposing basketball team trying to take the ball from a cartoon character who very much resembles Gilgeous-Alexander.
In this game, the buzzer represents the whistle of a foul-calling referee.
“Shai has made hoops all about foul baiting and now you’re stuck guarding him in Underdog’s new board game,” a description reads on the game’s website. “Don’t get baited. Steal the ball without getting whistled.”
In a letter dated May 22, attorney Eric Fishman of ArentFox Schiff LLP demanded that Underdog “immediately and permanently cease and desist from any and all use of Mr. Gilgeous-Alexander’s NIL in any and all media, including but not limited to your website (including the Unethical Hoops Website)… and any physical goods including but not limited to the board game advertised on the Unethical Hoops Website.”
The notice also calls for Underdog to “immediately destroy all physical goods or advertisements that use Mr. Gilgeous-Alexander’s NIL, including but not limited to the board game advertised on the Unethical Hoops Website,” as well as a promise never to use the star player’s name, image or likeness without his permission.
Fishman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Times.
According to the Unethical Hoops website, which remains active more than a week after the date on the cease-and-desist order, only 100 copies of the game were made, to be given away to Underdog users. The giveaway ended as scheduled on Friday.
Underdog declined to comment on the matter other than to point out that the company has pulled comical stunts at the expense of members of the sports world.
“We’ve poked fun at Knicks and Lakers fans, the Red Sox owners, the Mets and more,” a spokesperson said via email. “We like to have some fun with whatever is in the sports fan zeitgeist.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is a four-time All-Star who led the league in scoring last season (2,484 points) and was second in scoring this season (2,117). He led the Thunder to their first NBA title last year and has them back in the Western Conference finals this year (the decisive Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs is Saturday in Oklahoma City).
While one of the NBA’s biggest stars, Gilgeous-Alexander is often criticized for the number of favorable foul calls he receives — he has ranked second or third in the league for number of free throw attempts per game in each of the last four seasons and is currently second among all players in the 2026 playoffs with 9.8 a game — and the lengths he appears to go to in order to receive them.
After Game 2 against the Spurs, one NBA fan account on X wrote, “Shai flopped on every single shot attempt” and posted a video that showed seven such examples (Gilgeous-Alexander actually attempted 24 shots that night). The post has been viewed 22.7 million times.
Earlier this week, prior to Game 6 of the conference finals, another fan account on X posted a video “ranking all 44 times SGA fell on the floor while shooting during the 2026 playoffs from least to most egregious.” That post has been viewed 1.3 million times.
As the cartoon likeness of Gilgeous-Alexander states in the Unethical Hoops ad, “so much as breathe on me, I’m getting the call.”
The real-life SGA was asked during a TV interview after Game 3 in San Antonio about the “flopper!” chants that rained down on him at Frost Bank Center.
“It’s part of the game,” he said. “It’s nothing. I’ve been dealing with it for a long time. I don’t really hear it. I’m focused on what’s going on on the court.”
Sports
Spurs blow out Thunder, force Game 7 as Victor Wembanyama leads the way with 28-point double-double
Trump says he thinks he’ll attend NBA Finals game
President Donald Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that he believes he will attend an NBA Finals game next week, as the New York Knicks make their first Finals appearance in nearly 30 years.
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The Western Conference Finals will come down to a Game 7 after the San Antonio Spurs routed the Oklahoma City Thunder, 118-91, in Game 6 on Thursday night.
Game 7 heads back to Oklahoma City, where the winner will face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals after New York swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
With their backs against the wall, the Spurs did what was necessary on their home court and then some. And it was their phenom, Victor Wembanyama, leading the way.
Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs reacts during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Six of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on May 28, 2026. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The 7-foot-4 big man led the Spurs with 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting, including four three-pointers made, while notching a double-double with 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks.
This was the performance head coach Mitch Johnson and the rest of the team needed from Wembanyama, and he was up for the challenge as the Thunder were looking to make it back-to-back NBA Finals appearances.
Instead, the Thunder’s three-point shooting woes returned in San Antonio, much like they did in Game 4 of this series. They took a whopping 40 threes, but only cashed in 10 of them, finishing 25% from beyond the arc on the night.
SPURS SNAP THUNDER’S PLAYOFF WIN STREAK BEHIND VICTORY WEMBANYAMA’S INCREDIBLE GAME 1 PERFORMANCE
As a team, the Thunder shot just 37%, and MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is among the culprits for the poor shooting night. He had just 15 points, going 6-of-18 from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point land. Lu Dort was also ice cold from three, going just 1-of-9 and 2-of-11 for the game.
Meanwhile, San Antonio was getting more than just “Wemby” contributions, especially from rookie Dylan Harper, who played a vital role in the blowout off the bench.
Dylan Harper of the San Antonio Spurs looks on during the first quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on May 28, 2026. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Harper was quite efficient when he had the ball in his hands, going 6-of-9 from the field for 18 points, while tallying six rebounds and four assists in his pivotal 22 minutes off the pine.
And in the starting five, Stephon Castle was getting to the rim like he’s supposed to, scoring 17 points while dishing out nine assists for the Spurs. Devin Vassell also hit four of his seven three-point shots for 12 points, while Julian Champagnie poured in 10 more with six rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks on the other end of the hardwood.
The Spurs saw 12 different players contribute on the scoreboard in this contest, some of whom made their way into the game when the Thunder conceded and already started to focus on Game 7. And that swing came in the third quarter, when the Spurs outscored the Thunder, 32-13, and started to run away with this must-win game for their franchise.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama shoots against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first half of Game 6 in the Western Conference finals NBA playoffs in San Antonio on May 28, 2026. (David J. Phillip/AP)
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Now, folks, it all comes down to the ever-suspenseful Game 7, where the Thunder will hope one last home game will give them the juice to push their way into the Finals.
But the Spurs are hoping to recreate 1999 by earning a matchup with the Knicks in the NBA Finals.
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