Tottenham begin their preseason schedule against MK Dons today, and fans can find all the key information here, including how to watch the live stream, the latest team news, predicted lineups and what to expect from the opening friendly, being staged behind closed doors at Hotspur Way training ground.
Second Half UPDATES: Richarlison comes on to take the armband, then quickly drive one past Craig MacGillivray into the back of the net. But the flag is up and the goal is ruled out.
On in goal for Spurs, Martin Dúbravka easily collects an MK Dons free kick with no harm done.
Dons are managing to apply signifiant pressure to Spurs back line in this half, but Dúbravka has remained easily up to the task.
At the 71 minute mark, Mikey Moore gets a shot on MacGillivray but is ruled office, and the shot missed anyway. Moments later, Tye Hall concedes a corner. Off the corner, Dons get the ball past Dúbravka! The match is level! Or is it? A Dons player fouled the Tottenham goalie and the score is nullified.
Five minutes later, Richarlison gets off an increasingly rare Sours shot on target, but the ball flies straight into MacGillivray’s waiting arms.
Three minutes after that, Dúbravka makes a sensational save of a close-range header to keep the score at 1-0 for Spurs. Dons botch another opportunity off a corner in the 86th minute. Meanwhile, Spurs start manufacturing chances of their own late in the game, but cannot produce a second goal.
The full-time whistle blows! Spurs come out of their first competitive game with a 1-0 victory. Next up, a three-match tour of Australia and New Zealand, starting July 25 in Auckland where they take on Auckland FC at Eden Park.
First Half: Mateus Fernandes gets on the board for Spurs, lacing Mathys Tel’s corner into the top right corner. The hydration break — yes, they’re still doing those — has come and gone and Tottenham holds a 1-0 lead.
Dons defense has been difficult for De Zerbi’s squad to solve, as Spurs hold possession for two straight minutes without a chance.
Then out of the break, Kaito Takai has an overzealous ball plucked out of mid-air by MK Dons’ keeper Craig MacGillivray.
With seconds to go in the half, Sandro Tonali is charged with a foul, setting up a threatening free kick. Spurs risk going into half-time level with the lower-league side. But the kick sails off target.
And that’s it. The first half of Tottenham Hotspur’s 2026 first preseason match, and MK Dons’ third, is in the history books. Fernandes’ stunning goal holds up. Spurs 1, MK Dons 0.
“An incredible goal to separate the sides. Fernandes cost Spurs a lot of money and it was practically his first touch for the club (albeit in a friendly) and a pristine volley to open the scoring,” reported Milton Keynes Citizen writer Toby Lock.
See below for full pre-match report.
MK Dons Predicted Starting XI — Subject to change Position Role Player GK Goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray RB Defender Odeluga Offiah CB Defender Zak Jules CB Defender Matthew Dennis RM Midfielder Cameron Thompson CM Midfielder Lewis Bate RM Midfielder Stephen Wearne CM Midfielder MJ Williams LM Midfielder Phoenix Scholtz ST Forward Sonny Finch ST Forward Emre Tezgel
Pedro Porro’s World Cup Win Leaves Spurs Shorthanded
With several first-team regulars, new arrivals and academy prospects all expected to feature, Roberto de Zerbi’s team selection could provide the first major clues about Tottenham’s plans for the season ahead.
Kickoff at Hotspur Way is set for 5 p.m. BST (noon ET, 9 a.m. PT), and the behind-closed-doors friendly streams live on Tottenham’s SPURSPLAY platform, which is carrying all seven of the club’s confirmed preseason matches this summer, subject to regional availability.
Pedro Porro will not be part of that Hotspur Way lineup. The Spain right back started Spain’s run to the World Cup semifinals and beyond, and FIFA’s mandated three-week posttournament recovery window, triggered by Sunday’s final, rules him out until early to mid-August at the earliest.
Porro is hardly alone. Jan Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson, Cristian Romero, Marcos Senesi and Djed Spence all remain away from the group following their own World Cup runs, according to Read Tottenham. Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are still working back from torn ACLs, while Mohammed Kudus and Dejan Kulusevski continue individual rehab programs of their own.
That absentee list swings the door wide open for two record signings. Sandro Tonali could finally get his first Tottenham minutes after a work permit delay kept the Italy midfielder out of the season’s opening training sessions, joining fellow summer arrival Mateus Fernandes, who has completed a full training block and looks ready to go. New goalkeeper Martin Dubravka is also available.
Tottenham Hotspur Predicted Starting XI — Subject to change Position Role Player GK Goalkeeper Antonín Kinský RB Defender Kaito Takai CB Defender Ashley Phillips CB Defender Ben Davies LB Defender Destiny Udogie CM Midfielder Mateus Fernandes CM Midfielder Sandro Tonali RW Forward Yang Min-hyuk AM Forward Jamie Donley LW Forward Mathys Tel ST Forward Dominic Solanke
Roberto De Zerbi’s Rebuild Faces Its First Test
De Zerbi took over in late March with Tottenham a single point above the Premier League relegation zone, and steadied a club that had gone winless in the league since December. This is his first match in charge of a squad reshaped since then by a record-breaking transfer window, one that brought in Tonali, Fernandes, Van Hecke, Robertson, Senesi and Dubravka.
The Italian built his reputation on possession-first football at Sassuolo before a historic sixth-place finish at Brighton and a strong Ligue 1 title challenge at Marseille that ended with his February exit, according to Sports Mole. His teams invite pressure before playing through it, a system that rewards composed defenders and wide attackers alike.
MK Dons arrive off a promotion, having finished second in League Two under Paul Warne to secure a return to League One. But captain Alex Gilbey now faces a nervous wait after a knee injury sustained blocking a shot in last week’s preseason opener against Maidenhead United.
“He fell awkwardly after some contact in the box, and it looks like he’s damaged his knee,” Warne said of Gilbey, as quoted by the Milton Keynes Citizen. “It doesn’t look worst-case scenario and we’re hoping it won’t be too bad.”