The fastest football players in the world can turn a normal defensive situation into a counterattack within seconds. Kylian Mbappé recorded a 37.6 km/h sprint at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while Micky van de Ven owns the Premier League’s verified speed record at 37.38 km/h. Players such as Kyle Walker, Jackson Tchatchoua, and Jean-Mattéo Bahoya have also crossed or approached the remarkable 37 km/h barrier in official competition tracking.
However, football does not have one universal global speed database. FIFA, UEFA, the Premier League, Bundesliga, and other competitions use their own tracking systems, and older generations were not measured with modern technology at all. FootballerRank therefore ranks only speeds published by reliable competition organizers and clearly identifies where each sprint was recorded. On that basis, Mbappé’s 37.6 km/h World Cup sprint is the highest clearly attributed official match speed in our current verified ranking.
Key Takeaways
- Kylian Mbappé leads our verified ranking with a 37.6 km/h sprint recorded by FIFA at the 2026 World Cup.
- Micky van de Ven holds the Premier League record at 37.38 km/h.
- Kyle Walker reached 37.31 km/h at age 32, an extraordinary figure for an experienced defender.
- Jackson Tchatchoua recorded 37.30 km/h during the 2025/26 Premier League season.
- Jean-Mattéo Bahoya owns the Bundesliga record at 37.16 km/h.
- Speed statistics from different competitions are not perfectly standardized, so small differences should not be treated like laboratory sprint results.
- This page owns FootballerRank’s entire “fastest football players” intent; we do not need a separate Fastest Players Right Now article.
Top 10 Fastest Football Players in the World by Verified Match Speed
| Rank | Player | Country | Verified Top Speed | Competition Where Recorded |
| 1 | Kylian Mbappé | France | 37.60 km/h | FIFA World Cup 2026 |
| 2 | Micky van de Ven | Netherlands | 37.38 km/h | Premier League |
| 3 | Kyle Walker | England | 37.31 km/h | Premier League |
| 4 | Jackson Tchatchoua | Cameroon | 37.30 km/h | Premier League |
| 5 | Jean-Mattéo Bahoya | France | 37.16 km/h | Bundesliga |
| 6 | Oliver Burke | Scotland | 37.00 km/h | Bundesliga |
| 7 | Chiedozie Ogbene | Republic of Ireland | 36.93 km/h | Premier League |
| 8 | Anthony Elanga | Sweden | 36.91 km/h | Premier League |
| 9 | Loïs Openda | Belgium | 36.86 km/h | Bundesliga |
| 10 | Pedro Neto | Portugal | 36.86 km/h | Premier League |
These are publicly verified match speeds from official competition data. This is not a complete database of every professional football match ever played.
Who Is the Fastest Football Player in the World?
Kylian Mbappé has the highest clearly verified speed in our current cross-competition ranking at 37.6 km/h.
FIFA recorded that sprint during the 2026 World Cup.
Mbappé was the tournament’s fastest player at the point FIFA published its official movement data.
His speed is especially dangerous because he can use it while attacking.
Many players can sprint quickly in open space.
Mbappé combines pace with:
- Ball control
- Dribbling
- Timing
- Finishing
- Explosive acceleration
That allows him to convert speed into goals.
A defender may begin beside Mbappé.
A few seconds later, he can be several metres behind.
That makes his pace tactically more important than the raw number alone.
Is Mbappé Officially the Fastest Footballer Ever?
We need to be careful with that claim.
The correct answer is:
Mbappé has the fastest clearly attributed official match speed in FootballerRank’s verified cross-competition data set.
That is not the same as proving:
No footballer in history has ever run faster.
Why?
Because football has no single worldwide speed-tracking database.
The Premier League began its current detailed speed records only recently.
Bundesliga tracking dates back further, but still not through football’s complete history.
Many competitions publish limited movement data.
Older stars such as:
- Thierry Henry
- Ronaldo Nazário
- Gareth Bale
- Arjen Robben
played much or all of their careers without the same standardized tracking coverage.
So FootballerRank does not make an impossible all-era scientific claim.
We rank verified evidence.
1. Kylian Mbappé — 37.60 km/h
Country: France
Verified speed: 37.60 km/h
Competition: FIFA World Cup 2026
Kylian Mbappé ranks first.
FIFA recorded him reaching 37.6 km/h during the 2026 World Cup.
That made him the fastest sprinter recorded in FIFA’s published tournament statistics.
Mbappé’s reputation for speed existed long before 2026.
His career has repeatedly shown how difficult he is to defend when space appears behind the defensive line.
What makes him special is not only maximum speed.
He also has excellent acceleration.
There is an important difference.
Top speed
The highest velocity a player reaches during a run.
Acceleration
How quickly the player reaches high speed.
In football, acceleration can sometimes matter even more.
A winger may have only five or ten metres to escape a defender.
Mbappé can create separation rapidly and then continue accelerating.
His 2026 World Cup was another demonstration.
He scored 10 goals and won the Golden Boot.
Speed was only one part of his game, but it helped make his movement extremely difficult to contain.
Verified record: 37.60 km/h.
2. Micky van de Ven — 37.38 km/h
Country: Netherlands
Verified speed: 37.38 km/h
Competition: Premier League
Club at time of record: Tottenham Hotspur
Micky van de Ven holds the Premier League speed record.
He reached:
37.38 km/h
against Brentford on January 31, 2024.
The Premier League states that it is the fastest speed recorded in the competition since its current tracking records began in 2020/21.
Van de Ven’s position makes the figure even more interesting.
He is a centre-back.
Most players near the top of speed rankings are:
- Wingers
- Full-backs
- Forwards
Van de Ven uses his pace mainly for recovery defending.
A high defensive line leaves large areas behind the centre-backs.
Normally, that creates major risk.
Van de Ven can recover situations that would become clear chances against slower defenders.
He has also repeatedly reached elite speeds.
His Premier League records include separate sprints above:
- 37.1 km/h
- 37.2 km/h
- 37.3 km/h
That repeatability strengthens his case.
He is not here because of one unusual tracking spike.
Verified record: 37.38 km/h.
3. Kyle Walker — 37.31 km/h
Country: England
Verified speed: 37.31 km/h
Competition: Premier League
Club at time of record: Manchester City
Kyle Walker ranks third at:
37.31 km/h
He recorded the speed against Everton in May 2023.
What makes Walker’s sprint especially remarkable is his age.
He was 32.
Most elite maximum-speed records are produced by players in their early twenties.
Walker remained exceptionally fast deep into his thirties.
His speed shaped Manchester City’s tactics for years.
Pep Guardiola could allow other players to move forward because Walker had the recovery ability to cover large defensive areas.
His pace was especially useful against elite counterattacking forwards.
Walker could:
- Lose several metres initially
- Turn
- Accelerate
- Recover before the shot
That ability became one of the defining features of his defensive career.
Speed alone did not make Walker an elite right-back.
It gave him a physical weapon that very few defenders possessed.
Verified record: 37.31 km/h.
4. Jackson Tchatchoua — 37.30 km/h
Country: Cameroon
Verified speed: 37.30 km/h
Competition: Premier League
Club at time of record: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Jackson Tchatchoua recorded one of the fastest sprints in Premier League history.
He reached:
37.30 km/h
against Everton on August 30, 2025.
That was the fastest speed recorded during the entire 2025/26 Premier League season.
It also placed him just:
0.01 km/h behind Kyle Walker
and:
0.08 km/h behind Van de Ven’s league record.
Tchatchoua then provided evidence that the speed was repeatable.
He later reached 36.97 km/h against Crystal Palace.
That gave him the two fastest individual sprint measurements of the 2025/26 Premier League season.
His wing-back role naturally creates opportunities to sprint.
He needs to move rapidly in both directions:
- Forward during attacks
- Backward during defensive transitions
Repeated sprint ability is often more useful in football than one isolated maximum-speed effort.
Tchatchoua has shown both.
Verified record: 37.30 km/h.
5. Jean-Mattéo Bahoya — 37.16 km/h
Country: France
Verified speed: 37.16 km/h
Competition: Bundesliga
Club at time of record: Eintracht Frankfurt
Jean-Mattéo Bahoya owns the Bundesliga speed record.
He reached:
37.16 km/h
against Bochum in March 2025.
That made him the first Bundesliga player to officially break the 37 km/h barrier since the league’s current speed data began in 2011/12.
Bahoya was only 19 when he set the record.
His pace fits his role as an attacking wide player.
He can accelerate during:
- Counterattacks
- Runs behind the full-back
- Wide transitions
- Recovery runs
The Bundesliga’s tracking system provides one of the strongest long-term official speed databases available from a major European league.
That makes Bahoya’s record particularly useful for this ranking.
He remains ahead of previous Bundesliga speed leaders such as:
- Loïs Openda
- Sirlord Conteh
- Gerrit Holtmann
- Alphonso Davies
Verified record: 37.16 km/h.
6. Oliver Burke — 37.00 km/h
Country: Scotland
Verified speed: 37.00 km/h
Competition: Bundesliga
Club at time of record: Union Berlin
Oliver Burke became the second player in Bundesliga tracking history to reach at least 37 km/h.
He recorded:
37.00 km/h
against St. Pauli during the 2025/26 season.
The sprint moved him above several younger speed specialists.
Burke has always possessed unusual physical tools.
His combination of:
- Height
- Stride length
- Power
- Straight-line speed
allows him to cover large areas very quickly.
He had already appeared in Bundesliga speed rankings before setting the 37.00 record.
During 2024/25, he recorded 36.72 km/h.
One season later, he went faster.
That improvement shows another interesting point about football speed.
A player’s fastest officially recorded sprint does not always happen at age 20 or 21.
Match circumstances matter.
The player needs enough open space and enough reason to reach maximum velocity.
Verified record: 37.00 km/h.
7. Chiedozie Ogbene — 36.93 km/h
Country: Republic of Ireland
Verified speed: 36.93 km/h
Competition: Premier League
Club at time of record: Luton Town
Chiedozie Ogbene reached:
36.93 km/h
against Fulham in September 2023.
For part of that season, he held the Premier League’s fastest recorded speed.
Van de Ven later passed him.
Ogbene’s pace was one of his strongest attacking weapons.
He could use speed to:
- Attack open grass
- Beat full-backs outside
- Counterattack
- Recover defensively
His record also illustrates how small the difference is between elite football sprinters.
Ogbene’s 36.93 sounds noticeably lower than Mbappé’s 37.60.
The actual difference is less than:
0.7 km/h
At that level, small margins separate many of the fastest professional players.
Verified record: 36.93 km/h.
8. Anthony Elanga — 36.91 km/h
Country: Sweden
Verified speed: 36.91 km/h
Competition: Premier League
Club at time of record: Nottingham Forest
Anthony Elanga recorded:
36.91 km/h
against Tottenham in April 2024.
Speed has always been central to Elanga’s attacking game.
He is especially dangerous during transitions.
When the opposition pushes players forward, Elanga can attack the open space behind them.
His movement combines:
- Acceleration
- Straight-line pace
- Direct carrying
- Counterattacking runs
He has also repeatedly appeared among the Premier League’s fastest players rather than producing only one isolated sprint.
That matters.
Top speed can sometimes be created by a very specific match situation.
Consistently appearing near the top of tracking lists suggests genuinely elite pace.
Elanga fits that category.
Verified record: 36.91 km/h.
9. Loïs Openda — 36.86 km/h
Country: Belgium
Verified speed: 36.86 km/h
Competition: Bundesliga
Club at time of record: RB Leipzig
Loïs Openda recorded:
36.86 km/h
during the 2024/25 Bundesliga season.
He reached the speed against Bayern Munich.
Openda’s pace is especially valuable because he is a striker.
Fast wingers often begin close to the touchline with open grass ahead.
A striker may need to sprint:
- Between centre-backs
- Behind the defensive line
- Into narrower spaces
Openda combines high maximum speed with strong attacking timing.
That allows him to threaten defenders even before he receives the ball.
If a defensive line moves too high, Openda can attack the space behind.
If defenders drop deeper because they fear his speed, more room appears in front of them.
Speed therefore influences matches even when the player does not touch the ball.
Verified record: 36.86 km/h.
10. Pedro Neto — 36.86 km/h
Country: Portugal
Verified speed: 36.86 km/h
Competition: Premier League
Club at time of record: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Pedro Neto is level with Openda at:
36.86 km/h
He recorded the sprint against Luton Town in September 2023.
Neto is one of the strongest examples of speed with the ball.
Some players lose significant pace when dribbling.
Neto can carry possession at high speed while maintaining close enough control to change direction.
That makes him dangerous on counterattacks.
He can receive wide and immediately:
- Accelerate
- Carry forward
- Beat a defender
- Create a cross or shot
The Premier League later highlighted his 36.86 km/h speed when discussing the pace he brought to Chelsea.
He therefore completes our current verified Top 10.
Verified record: 36.86 km/h.
Is This a True Worldwide Top 10?
Not in the sense of a global laboratory test.
No organization has tested every professional footballer under identical conditions.
The table combines reliable public data from competitions with strong tracking systems, including:
- FIFA World Cup
- Premier League
- Bundesliga
Other competitions also record speeds.
Not all publish complete historical leaderboards in the same way.
That means a player outside this list may have recorded a comparable speed in another competition.
Our ranking should therefore be read as:
The fastest verified match speeds FootballerRank can support with strong official competition evidence.
That is more accurate than pretending an incomplete internet list is scientifically universal.
What About UEFA’s 39.6 km/h Lucas Hernández Figure?
This requires an important methodology note.
UEFA’s 2025/26 Paris Saint-Germain team summary lists Lucas Hernández at 39.6 km/h as PSG’s top Champions League speed.
If fully confirmed at match level, that figure would be higher than every speed in our main table.
However, the published team summary does not identify the specific sprint or match, and the figure is unusually high compared with other documented elite records.
FootballerRank therefore treats the 39.6 km/h value as a data point requiring further match-level verification, rather than immediately declaring Hernández the fastest footballer in the world.
This is exactly why speed articles need stronger methodology than simply sorting numbers copied from different websites.
Why Isn’t Alphonso Davies in the Top 10?
Alphonso Davies is genuinely one of football’s fastest players.
The Bundesliga has officially recorded him at:
36.53 km/h
during his fastest league sprint.
That is extremely quick.
It is simply below the verified Top 10 cutoff of 36.86 km/h used here.
Davies’ reputation for pace also comes from acceleration and repeated recovery running rather than one record sprint alone.
Why Isn’t Erling Haaland in the Top 10?
Haaland combines unusual speed with a 1.95-metre frame.
That makes his pace look especially dramatic.
During the 2025/26 Premier League season, he reached:
36.20 km/h
against Arsenal.
That made him Manchester City’s fastest player that season.
It is elite for a centre-forward of his size.
It does not reach the Top 10 peak-speed cutoff in our broader verified table.
Why Isn’t Adama Traoré in the Top 10?
Adama Traoré has long had a reputation as one of football’s quickest and most powerful players.
Premier League tracking has recorded him at elite speeds.
However, the league’s official all-time list places his top recorded figure below the ten speeds selected here.
This illustrates the difference between:
- Reputation for explosiveness
- Acceleration
- Maximum verified speed
Traoré can still be devastatingly fast without owning the highest measured peak.
Why Isn’t Gareth Bale in the Top 10?
Gareth Bale produced some of football’s most famous high-speed runs.
His Copa del Rey final sprint against Barcelona became iconic.
The problem is data consistency.
Bale’s prime came before the modern public tracking databases used in this ranking became widely available across major competitions.
Numerous speed figures have been attributed to him online.
FootballerRank does not use a number unless we can trace it to a sufficiently reliable official competition measurement.
That is not a claim that Bale was slower.
It means his evidence is not directly comparable to the modern tracked figures above.
Why Isn’t Arjen Robben Included?
The same issue applies to Arjen Robben.
Reports from the 2014 World Cup widely associated him with exceptional sprint speeds.
However, historical speed numbers from different tracking systems are frequently repeated without clear methodological explanations.
For this record page, we prefer modern figures that official organizers currently publish and explain.
Fastest Premier League Player Ever
Micky van de Ven holds the Premier League record at:
37.38 km/h
The official all-time Premier League leaders since current tracking began include:
| Rank | Player | Top Speed |
| 1 | Micky van de Ven | 37.38 km/h |
| 2 | Kyle Walker | 37.31 km/h |
| 3 | Jackson Tchatchoua | 37.30 km/h |
| 4 | Chiedozie Ogbene | 36.93 km/h |
| 5 | Anthony Elanga | 36.91 km/h |
Van de Ven has also produced several separate sprints above 37 km/h.
That makes his league speed record particularly convincing.
Fastest Bundesliga Player Ever
Jean-Mattéo Bahoya holds the Bundesliga record.
His top speed is:
37.16 km/h
Bundesliga tracking has been recorded since 2011/12.
The current historical leaders include:
| Rank | Player | Top Speed |
| 1 | Jean-Mattéo Bahoya | 37.16 km/h |
| 2 | Oliver Burke | 37.00 km/h |
| 3 | Loïs Openda | 36.86 km/h |
| 4 | Sirlord Conteh | 36.82 km/h |
| 5 | Gerrit Holtmann | 36.74 km/h |
That gives us a useful standardized comparison within one league.
Fastest Player at the 2026 World Cup
Kylian Mbappé.
FIFA recorded him at:
37.6 km/h
during the tournament.
This is one of the strongest speed measurements available because it comes directly from FIFA’s tournament tracking.
Mbappé also combined that speed with elite output.
He won the Golden Boot with 10 goals.
Fastest Players Right Now: Early 2026/27 Snapshot
This main page also owns the “fastest right now” intent, so we do not need a separate competing URL.
Early 2026/27 numbers are still based on small samples.
Premier League
Bradley Barcola has recorded 35.93 km/h early in the season.
Bundesliga
Sheraldo Becker currently leads at around 36.58 km/h.
Champions League
Carlos Forbs has reached 36.6 km/h, with Mbappé close behind on 36.4 km/h.
These early-season figures can change quickly.
They should not replace the verified career-peak table until the season develops further.
Top Speed vs Acceleration: What Matters More?
They measure different things.
Top speed
Maximum velocity reached during a sprint.
Acceleration
How quickly the player increases velocity.
A footballer may have a slightly lower maximum speed but be more dangerous over the first five metres.
That can matter more when:
- Escaping a marker
- Pressing
- Reacting to a loose ball
- Turning after possession changes
Mbappé is dangerous because he possesses both.
Van de Ven’s maximum speed is especially useful over longer defensive recovery runs.
Does Running With the Ball Make a Player Slower?
Usually.
A player needs touches to control the ball.
That can reduce maximum stride length and rhythm.
This is why raw sprint-speed data should not automatically decide who is the most dangerous fast attacker.
An elite ball carrier must combine:
- Speed
- Touch
- Balance
- Decision-making
- Direction changes
Pedro Neto and Mbappé are particularly effective because they can remain dangerous while carrying possession at pace.
Are Defenders Faster Than Forwards?
Sometimes.
The Top 10 includes several defenders or wing-backs:
- Van de Ven
- Walker
- Tchatchoua
Modern high defensive lines make recovery speed extremely valuable.
A centre-back who can reach 37 km/h gives his team tactical freedom.
The defence can move higher because the player has a better chance of recovering if an attacker gets behind.
What Is a Fast Speed for a Professional Footballer?
Context matters, but approximate match-speed bands can help.
30–32 km/h
Quick at professional level.
32–34 km/h
Very fast.
34–36 km/h
Elite football speed.
Above 36 km/h
Exceptional.
Around 37 km/h or higher
Record-level speed in major tracked competitions.
Reaching maximum speed also requires enough open space.
A technically quick midfielder may rarely have the opportunity to sprint for 30 metres.
Can Football Players Run as Fast as Olympic Sprinters?
Elite football speeds can look surprisingly close when expressed as km/h.
But this comparison can be misleading.
A football tracking system records the peak instant speed reached during open play.
A 100-metre sprinter must:
- Start from blocks
- Accelerate
- Maintain technique
- Complete the entire 100 metres
The tasks are different.
Footballers are also running after already playing, turning, and reacting to match situations.
So a footballer briefly reaching around 37 km/h does not mean he could run a world-class 100-metre time.
Why Official Tracking Is Better Than Estimated Speed
Many popular articles use numbers based on:
- Video estimates
- Unclear GPS data
- Training sessions
- Secondary reports
- Repeated unsourced claims
Those numbers can be interesting.
They should not be mixed with official league tracking.
FootballerRank prioritizes figures published directly by organizations such as:
- FIFA
- UEFA
- Premier League
- Bundesliga
That gives every listed speed a traceable source.
Could the Ranking Change?
Absolutely.
Speed records can change in one sprint.
A young player may suddenly reach 37.7 km/h.
Another competition may publish a verified figure that exceeds Mbappé’s current benchmark.
Tracking technology may also improve.
That is why this article needs regular updates.
Unlike historical goals or trophy records, speed rankings are closely tied to current measurement technology.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the fastest football player in the world?
Kylian Mbappé leads FootballerRank’s current verified cross-competition ranking after FIFA recorded him at 37.6 km/h during the 2026 World Cup.
What is Mbappé’s fastest recorded speed?
FIFA recorded Mbappé reaching 37.6 km/h at the 2026 World Cup.
Is Mbappé faster than Micky van de Ven?
Their best official figures in this ranking are 37.6 km/h for Mbappé and 37.38 km/h for Van de Ven. Because the measurements come from different competitions and systems, the small difference should be treated cautiously.
Who is the fastest player in Premier League history?
Micky van de Ven, with a verified 37.38 km/h sprint against Brentford in January 2024.
How fast is Kyle Walker?
His Premier League record is 37.31 km/h.
How fast is Jackson Tchatchoua?
He reached 37.30 km/h during the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Who is the fastest Bundesliga player ever?
Jean-Mattéo Bahoya holds the league’s tracked record at 37.16 km/h.
Which players have officially reached 37 km/h?
The verified records used here include Mbappé, Van de Ven, Walker, Tchatchoua, Bahoya, and Oliver Burke at or above 37.00 km/h.
How fast is Erling Haaland?
The Premier League recorded Haaland at 36.20 km/h during the 2025/26 season.
How fast is Alphonso Davies?
The Bundesliga has recorded Davies at 36.53 km/h as his league peak.
Is Adama Traoré the fastest footballer?
He is extremely fast and explosive, but his official Premier League peak does not lead the modern tracked record.
Was Gareth Bale faster than Mbappé?
There is no standardized official data set allowing a fair direct comparison between Bale’s peak and Mbappé’s 2026 FIFA tracking figure.
What is the fastest speed ever recorded by a footballer?
FootballerRank does not claim one universal all-time world record because no global standardized database exists. The highest clearly attributed official figure in our main verified ranking is Mbappé’s 37.6 km/h.
Why is Lucas Hernández’s reported 39.6 km/h not No. 1?
UEFA’s PSG 2025/26 team summary lists 39.6 km/h, but the figure lacks the same clear match-level attribution available for the records in our main table. We therefore flag it separately rather than treating it as a confirmed global record.
Who is fastest in the Premier League in 2026/27 so far?
Bradley Barcola leads the early-season published figures at 35.93 km/h. The season is still very young.
Does top speed determine the best player?
No. Speed is one physical attribute. Technique, positioning, decision-making, passing, finishing, and tactical intelligence matter just as much or more.
How often should this article be updated?
At least several times each season and after major tournaments such as the World Cup, because one officially tracked sprint can change the ranking.
Sources and Fact-Checking Method
FootballerRank treats speed differently from goals and trophies.
There is no complete universal database covering every professional footballer and every era.
For the main ranking, we prioritize:
- Official FIFA tracking
- Official league tracking
- Official UEFA data where the measurement is clearly attributable
- Published competition records with a named player and speed
We exclude:
- Unverified social-media claims
- Training-ground GPS figures without competition confirmation
- Estimated video speeds
- Numbers with no traceable source
- Historical claims that cannot be compared with modern tracking
Where two speeds come from different competitions, we show the figures but acknowledge that tracking systems may not be identical.
That is why a difference of 0.1 or 0.2 km/h should not be interpreted as proving one player is physically faster under every condition.
The article ranks verified match evidence rather than internet reputation.
Conclusion
Kylian Mbappé leads FootballerRank’s fastest football players in the world ranking with a FIFA-verified 37.6 km/h sprint at the 2026 World Cup, followed by Premier League record holder Micky van de Ven at 37.38 km/h, Kyle Walker at 37.31, and Jackson Tchatchoua at 37.30. Jean-Mattéo Bahoya and Oliver Burke have also reached the 37 km/h level in Bundesliga tracking, while Ogbene, Elanga, Openda, and Pedro Neto complete our verified Top 10. Because football lacks one standardized global historical speed database, these figures should be understood as the strongest publicly verified match records available rather than a definitive laboratory ranking of every player who has ever played the game.
