Chiefs and Downs Rivalry: Unbeaten Streaks Throughout the Years

Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs have been locked in an intense battle as the two teams with the best unbeaten records in the PSL era. On Wednesday, the Brazilians took the league up a notch by setting a new record of 32 games without defeat after their 3-1 thrashing of Stellenbosch. This broke Chiefs’ record of 31 games unbeaten set in 2005.

Sundowns’ current streak is the third time they have come close to the record. In April 2014, Chiefs chased their own record and went 26 games unbeaten before their streak was ended in February 2015. Then in January 2018, Sundowns went 28 games unbeaten before their streak was broken in January 2019.

The Brazilians had another attempt in April 2021, but their run of no defeats was ended after 25 matches. Sundowns captain Themba Zwane says their rivalry with Chiefs is “exciting” and that they deliberately chased Amakhosi’s record so their generation could be remembered.

“It’s so exciting, for us we’re so happy because we wanted to be remembered as that era that broke the record, at Sundowns it has always been the culture, we always want to make history as a team,” Zwane said. “Try to make history repeat itself and push ourselves, improve as a team, play to the highest level and make our fans happy.”

Sundowns have also equalled Chiefs’ record of eight consecutive league victories from the start of the season. If they win their ninth consecutive league game, they will set a new record in the PSL era (since 1996/97 season). However, the overall record for the most consecutive wins since the start of the season is still held by Chiefs who won 17 games on the trot in the 1991 campaign.