Martin Odegaard officially became a Premier League-winning captain on May 24, 2026, lifting the trophy after Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park. The Norwegian midfielder described the moment as “unreal” and “crazy,” bringing an emotional end to a 22-year wait for Arsenal’s fourth Premier League title. The championship had already been secured earlier in the week, but the victory in south London provided the setting for the players and supporters to celebrate with the trophy.
The achievement also placed Odegaard in a small and significant group in Arsenal history. He became only the third player to captain the club to a Premier League title, following Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira. Arsenal finished the 2025/26 campaign with 85 points, seven clear of Manchester City, and their 26 league victories matched the total recorded in three of the club’s four Premier League-winning seasons.
Why Martin Odegaard’s trophy lift matters
For Odegaard, the significance went beyond winning another piece of silverware.
The Arsenal captain had been part of several seasons in which the club came close to the Premier League title without finishing first. The breakthrough finally arrived in 2025/26, ending the club’s longest wait between Premier League championships.
After the trophy ceremony, Odegaard spoke about the difficulty of describing what he was feeling.
“It feels unreal – hard to put it into words.”
He also reflected on the personal meaning of finally winning the competition he had dreamed about throughout his life.
The emotion was understandable. Arsenal had spent three consecutive seasons finishing as Premier League runners-up before finally converting their sustained challenge into a championship. The 2023/24 campaign had been particularly painful, with Manchester City finishing two points ahead of them.
Arsenal’s 2025/26 title in numbers
The final statistics show that Arsenal’s championship was not simply the product of a dramatic late surge. The team combined consistency, defensive strength and a remarkable ability to remain at the top of the table.
| Measure | Arsenal 2025/26 | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Final position | 1st | Premier League champions |
| Points | 85 | Seven ahead of Manchester City |
| Wins | 26 | Matched three previous Arsenal title-winning campaigns |
| Draws | 7 | Helped maintain a strong points total |
| Defeats | 5 | Limited damage across 38 matches |
| Goals scored | 71 | Two fewer than the 2003/04 Invincibles |
| Goals conceded | 27 | One more than the Invincibles |
| Clean sheets | 19 | Joint-highest Arsenal total in a title-winning season |
| Set-piece goals | 25* | League-high total, excluding penalties |
*Arsenal’s official season statistics separately record 19 goals from corners and 25 set-piece goals excluding penalties.
One of the clearest indicators of Arsenal’s consistency was their time at the top. The club spent 200 consecutive days leading the Premier League during the campaign, longer than in any of its previous title-winning seasons.
How Arsenal finally ended the 22-year wait
Arsenal’s previous Premier League title had come in the 2003/04 season, when Arsène Wenger’s team completed the entire 38-game campaign unbeaten.
The intervening years produced strong teams, domestic cups, Champions League qualification and several serious title challenges, but not another league championship.
That changed in 2025/26.
Arsenal secured first place before their final match when Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with AFC Bournemouth made it mathematically impossible for City to overtake them. The title was therefore settled before Arsenal travelled to Selhurst Park.
The situation created an unusual final-day dynamic: the match against Crystal Palace was no longer about whether Arsenal would become champions. Instead, it was about how the champions would finish their campaign and, crucially, when their trophy would finally be placed in their hands.
Arsenal answered with a 2-1 victory.
Gabriel Jesus and Noni Madueke scored for the visitors, while Jean-Philippe Mateta pulled one back for Palace late in the match. After the final whistle, Odegaard lifted the trophy in front of the travelling Arsenal support.
Odegaard joins Adams and Vieira as Arsenal’s title-winning captains
The captaincy adds another layer to Odegaard’s achievement.
Arsenal’s Premier League history began with Tony Adams lifting the championship in 1998. Adams also captained the side to the 2002 title. Patrick Vieira was captain when Arsenal won the league in 2004.
Odegaard now joins them as the third Arsenal captain to lead the club to Premier League glory.
| Arsenal Premier League title | Season | Title-winning captain |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1997/98 | Tony Adams |
| 2nd | 2001/02 | Tony Adams |
| 3rd | 2003/04 | Patrick Vieira |
| 4th | 2025/26 | Martin Odegaard |
Arsenal’s four Premier League championships are now spread across four distinct eras: the late-1990s team under Wenger, the early-2000s Double-winning side, the unbeaten Invincibles and Arteta’s 2025/26 champions.
That historical continuity makes Odegaard’s trophy lift particularly significant. He is not merely the captain of a successful modern Arsenal team; his name is now attached to one of the club’s defining Premier League milestones.
From repeated near-misses to champions
The 2025/26 title also changed the meaning of Arsenal’s recent history.
For several seasons, the club had demonstrated that it could compete with the Premier League’s strongest teams. Finishing second repeatedly established Arsenal as a genuine title contender, but it also created a sense that something was missing.
The 2025/26 campaign supplied that missing piece.
Arsenal finished with 85 points, seven ahead of Manchester City. The margin was smaller than their 2003/04 championship advantage but comfortably greater than their one-point triumph in 1997/98.
The comparison with previous Arsenal champions is revealing:
- 1997/98: 78 points, 23 wins, 33 goals conceded.
- 2001/02: 87 points, 26 wins, 36 goals conceded.
- 2003/04: 90 points, 26 wins, no defeats.
- 2025/26: 85 points, 26 wins, 27 goals conceded.
The latest champions therefore do not resemble the Invincibles statistically. Their defining characteristic was different: defensive reliability and the ability to win close matches.
Arsenal won eight league games 1-0 and 14 matches by a single goal. Their 19 clean sheets matched the club’s record for a title-winning season, while their 27 goals conceded were only one more than the Invincibles allowed in 2003/04.
A title built by the whole squad
It would be misleading to reduce Arsenal’s championship to the captain alone.
The 2025/26 team spread its goals across the squad. Arsenal recorded 18 different Premier League scorers excluding own goals, more than in any of their previous four title-winning campaigns.
Viktor Gyokeres led the team’s league scoring, while Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard also made significant contributions. Arsenal’s official season review highlighted their strength from set pieces, with 25 such goals excluding penalties.
That collective contribution matters when assessing Odegaard’s leadership. The Norwegian was not required to carry the team through individual brilliance every week. His role was to lead an increasingly deep and experienced squad through a 38-game title race.
And the numbers suggest Arsenal were unusually consistent at the top.
Odegaard’s leadership had been building for years
The 2026 trophy lift did not represent the beginning of Odegaard’s leadership at Arsenal. It was the culmination of a process that had started several seasons earlier.
He first captained Arsenal in March 2022 and subsequently became a permanent figure in the leadership structure. By the time he reached 100 appearances as captain, Arsenal recorded 66 victories in those first 100 matches under his captaincy, according to Opta data cited by the club.
That background helps explain why the title had such personal significance.
Odegaard was not simply handed the captain’s armband on the day Arsenal won the championship. He had spent years developing into the team’s leader while Arsenal evolved from challengers into champions.
His trophy lift therefore represented both an individual milestone and the completion of a broader transformation.
The final-day celebration at Selhurst Park
Although the title had been mathematically secured several days earlier, Arsenal’s players still had to complete the final match of the league season.
They did so with a win.
Selhurst Park became the setting for the official presentation, with Odegaard raising the trophy before the travelling supporters. Arsenal described the occasion as the end of a 22-year wait, while Premier League coverage noted that the championship was the club’s first since the 2003/04 season.
The symbolism was important. Arsenal did not lift the trophy at Emirates Stadium but in front of their travelling supporters in south London.
For fans who had experienced the disappointment of successive title challenges, that distance from home arguably made the moment even more distinctive: the championship was won away from home and celebrated together with the supporters who had followed the team throughout the campaign.
What the 2026 championship means for Arsenal’s history
Arsenal now have four Premier League titles: 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2026.
The latest championship does not erase the significance of the Invincibles, nor does it replicate the circumstances of Wenger’s earlier title-winning teams. Instead, it establishes a new chapter under Mikel Arteta.
The contrast is striking. Arsenal’s 2003/04 side became legendary by going an entire league season unbeaten. The 2025/26 team achieved its own distinction through sustained control of the title race, defensive resilience and consistency across a long campaign. Arsenal spent more consecutive days at the top in 2025/26 than during any of their previous title seasons.
And at the centre of that new chapter stands Odegaard.
Why Odegaard’s words captured the significance of the moment
Odegaard’s reaction after lifting the trophy was notable precisely because it was not presented as a routine achievement.
He spoke about pride, happiness and emotion, while describing the experience of walking towards the trophy as difficult to comprehend. He also stressed the collective nature of the achievement, repeatedly crediting his teammates and everyone connected with the club.
That response fits the wider story of Arsenal’s 2025/26 season.
The championship was not simply about adding another trophy to the club’s honours list. It ended a 22-year Premier League wait, rewarded a team that had spent several seasons falling just short, and gave Odegaard the opportunity to join Adams and Vieira in Arsenal’s select group of Premier League-winning captains.
On May 24, 2026, at Selhurst Park, the long wait finally became history.
And when Martin Odegaard lifted the trophy above his head, Arsenal’s latest generation of champions had their defining image.