Having won the past 12 Malaysia Super League titles -- with the most recent secured earlier this month with five games to spare -- Johor Darul Ta'zim's domestic dominance is irrefutable.
Nonetheless, their supremacy over the rest of the competition for a prolonged period of time has now seen them edge closer to making their mark on a global level.
Last Wednesday, with a 7-0 win over PDRM, the Southern Tigers extended their unbeaten run in the league to a staggering 104 games.
Their last defeat in the MSL was way back in April 2021. They did not suffer a single defeat in the past three campaigns and are closing in on another blemish-free season -- and it has taken them on the brink of a historical achievement.
According to RSSSF, ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast currently hold the record for the number of consecutive league games undefeated at 108 -- which was set during one of several dominant periods in the club's history between 1989 to 1994.
With their victory over PDRM, JDT have now pulled level with Romania's Steaua Bucharest -- who also went 104 league matches unbeaten from August 1986 to September 1989.
So when, and how, can the Southern Tigers set a new world record?
JDT need avoid defeat in four more matches to match ASEC, and then one more to surpass the Ivorian outfit.
With just four more games in their league campaign, they can -- at best -- equal the record by the end of the season.
Provided they avoid defeats against Terengganu, Melaka, Kuala Lumpur City and Kelantan TRW, they will then have to wait for the first game of the 2026-27 campaign to write their name in the history books -- likely to be at the start of September given the ASEAN Championship takes place this year and will only conclude on Aug. 26.
Still, there is another milestone that JDT could achieve this term.
In the past two seasons, they have narrowly fallen short of a genuine flawless campaign -- winning all but one of their games in both.
Having won all 20 league games so far in 2025-26, four more victories would see them achieve the rare feat -- and for the first time in MSL history.
Remarkably, if all domestic competition is included, JDT's unbeaten run would currently stand at an even-more impressive 139 games.
The streak would have started from their first game of 2022, given they lost the season-ending Malaysia Cup final the previous year.
However, it would then include 25 and 22 victories in the Malaysia Cup and FA Cup respectively in the four years since.
For now, all eyes will be on JDT equalling ASEC's record in their final four league games of this season.
Then, the Southern Tigers will be eagerly waiting to find out when their first match of 2026-27 is scheduled for.
