Bergwijn extends unprecedented penalty streak after seventeenth success

On a sun‑drenched Saturday in Riyadh, people saw Steven Bergwijn, 29, shoot the ball into the corner as goalkeeper Yassine Bounou of the Oranje‑kwelgeest stretched out. It was the seventeenth penalty in a row that he completed without missing, a feat that further strengthens his reputation from eleven metres out.

Flawless statistics against world stars

Bergwijn has, in his career, already taken fifteen penalties in regular time or extra time without a single miss. Two additional goals came in the bizarre penalty shoot‑out between Ajax and Panathinaikos in August 2024 (13‑12). Despite this perfect run, his total still trails behind established names: according to Transfermarkt, Harry Kane has taken 109 penalties and missed fourteen, while Kylian Mbappé scored 64 times and also missed fourteen.

This season, the former Ajax, Tottenham Hotspur and PSV player has five goals in eight league matches for Al‑Ittihad, where he is contracted until mid‑2027. He shares the dressing room with Moroccan striker Youssef En‑Nesyri, French midfielder Houssem Aouar, Portuguese defender Danilo Pereira and Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.

After a summer in which a departure still seemed possible, Al‑Ittihad continued to market the Amsterdammer. At the time, he would have been available for a fraction of his purchase price, but the transfer ultimately went through.