Learn English – somebody/something has yet to do something

idioms

yet: somebody/something has yet to do something formal used to say that someone has not done something, or that something has not happened
when you think it should already have been done or have happened: I
have yet to hear Ray's version of what happened
. (Longman’s)

yet: The team has not yet won a game. = The team has not won a game yet. = The team has yet to win a game. (Merriam-Webster’s)

I understand what meaning the structure above has. But I’m wondering if the last sentence, The team has yet to win a game, could be interpreted as another meaning. Let’s suppose a soccer team that has won a game in a qualifying round, and it now has to win at least one more game to advance to the second round. In the case, can we say this sentence: “The team has yet to win a game”?

Best Answer

"The team has yet to win a game" means that, as of this time, the team has not won any games. Depending on the context, it could mean that they have never won a game since the team was first established, or it could mean they have not won any games in this season or this match.

If you are trying to describe a situation where the team must win two games to advance to the next round or something of that sort, and they have only won one so far, you could add additional qualifiers to the sentence to narrow the meaning. Like, "The team has yet to win a game in the second round" or "The team has yet to win a second game".