Tottenham Hotspur

Pedro Porro was first to qualify from a Spurs perspective after helping Spain defeat Belgium on Friday night.

The right-back has played every minute of the knockout games for his country so far – scoring against Austria in the last 32 – after being an unused substitute for two of Spain’s three group stage matches. He made his World Cup debut in a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia on matchday two.

Spain will take on France – the only nation involved in the semi-finals without any Spurs representation – in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday evening (8pm UK time).

On Saturday night, Djed Spence made another impact off the bench to help England through to the last four with a 2-1 victory over Norway after extra time.

Djed has featured in all of England’s games at the tournament so far, either from the start or off the bench. His two starts so far came in the 0-0 draw with Ghana in the second match of the group stage and the 2-1 win over DR Congo in the last 32.

Argentina, who include Cristian Romero and new signing Marcos Senesi in their squad, will be England’s opponents in the semi-finals.

Club captain ‘Cuti’ has started all but one of his nation’s matches to date, sitting out the third group stage game against Jordan with his side already assured of a place in the knockout stages and having been forced off early in the second outing against Kevin Danso’s Austria. He forced an extra time own goal by Cape Verde to see Argentina through in the last 32 before scoring in a 3-2 win over Egypt in the round of 16.

Fellow defender Marcos, who joined us this summer after leaving AFC Bournemouth, was a late call-up to the Argentina squad for the tournament after Leonardo Balerdi picked up an injury. He has played one game to date, completing the full 90 minutes and winning the penalty for his nation’s second goal in their 3-1 victory over Jordan in the third match of the group stage. He’s remained an unused substitute in all five of Argentina’s other outings.

England and Argentina will face each other in Atlanta, Georgia on Wednesday evening (8pm UK) for a place in the final.

Pedro Porro – France vs Spain

Kick-off 8pm

Watch on ITV

The defender put in a solid shift from the start in Kansas City before being substituted at half-time in extra time, Nicolas Otamendi coming on in his place.

Marcos Senesi remained an unused substitute for the defending champions, who will now face England in the last four on Wednesday (8pm UK).

Alexis Mac Allister had given Argentina an early lead before Dan Ndoye levelled for Switzerland mid-way through the second period. The Swiss were then reduced to 10 men when Breel Embolo was given a second yellow card, but they defended valiantly to force extra time before Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez scored to send Argentina through to face Djed Spence’s England.

Pedro Porro’s Spain will face France in the other semi-final on Tuesday (8pm UK).

The full-back was called into action four minutes before the end of normal time – replacing Nico O’Reilly at left-back – with the score at 1-1, Jude Bellingham having cancelled out Andreas Schjelderup’s opener in the first period.

With nothing to separate the sides after 90 minutes, the quarter-final tie went into extra time and after Bellingham swiftly put Thomas Tuchel’s side ahead for the first time on the night, Djed made an impact at both ends of the pitch.

In the wake of Bellingham’s second goal, the full-back won a penalty after a dazzling solo run, but subsequently saw the spot-kick decision overturned after a VAR review.

He later tried a superb shot from distance, forcing Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland into the first part of what turned out to be a double save, before coming up with a vital clearance in the last few seconds as the Three Lions ran down the clock to secure another famous win.

His appearance meant Djed kept up his record of playing in every game for England at this summer’s tournament.

Tuchel’s men can now look forward to a semi-final against either Argentina or Switzerland on Wednesday evening.

Turn the clock back to 2006, and Robbo, England’s number one, lined up against Portugal in the quarter-finals of the World Cup - a Portuguese side including Cristiano Ronaldo and Figo pulling the strings.

Portugal went through to the semi-finals on penalties after a 0-0 draw – England down to 10 men on the hour following Wayne Rooney’s red card.

Twenty years later, Robbo’s at the quarter-finals again – this time as co-commentator and pundit on BBC Radio 5 Live as England take on Norway in Miami, with Erling Haaland up front and Martin Odegaard pulling the strings.

Despite the well documented threat of City striker Haaland – seen in full effect in the Round of 16 against Brazil – Robbo believes Thomas Tuchel will concentrate on the weapons at his disposal.

“I think Tuchel’s main concentration will be on how England can win the game rather than how not to lose,” the fans’ favourite told us exclusively from Miami, where he will team up again with commentator John Murray and broadcast to millions this evening.

Capped 41 times, 175 appearance for us (2004-2008) in 20 years as a professional, not only has Robbo started for England in a World Cup quarter-final, he’s also been there for every minute of the Three Lions’ tournament so far.

“I don't think England’s strategy will change,” he said. “You look at the teams that they've played against, there's big names and big players in all of those teams and the thing with Thomas Tuchel, the way that he does it is to play to their strengths rather than defending their weaknesses.

“England in the past, and even back to my generation, we've been guilty of defending our weaknesses rather than playing to strengths, whereas Thomas Tuchel plays to England's strengths, he knows what the weaknesses are and he doesn't try and defend them.

“Croatia for instance (4-2 win, first group game), Tuchel will make changes that affect the game where England can go on and win with the players that they've got, rather than try and defend what they're not very good at.

“So, that's what I think he'll do. I don't think he'll look at Haaland. I don't think he'll look at the problems that Norway will cause. Obviously, it would be flippant not to do that type of due diligence but, actually, I think his main concentration will be on how England can win the game rather than how not to lose.

“I think the Mexico result (3-2 in Round of 16) will have done England the absolute world of good. You talk about growing into a tournament, but the camaraderie, the togetherness and what we saw in the tunnel and around the dressing room areas after that game, that will have brought them together even more. With that confidence, for me, they're huge favourites going into this game.”

The Portugal international midfielder joined his new team-mates for the first day of pre-season at our Enfield training HQ.

Gym work was the order of the day as the squad were put through a series of strength and power tests as we look ahead to our pre-season schedule, including a tour to New Zealand and Australia, and the big kick-off against Brentford on Saturday 22 August (5.30pm).

Mateus, 21, was snapped up from West Ham at the start of the month.

One of the outstanding young players in Europe and a product of Sporting CP's illustrious academy in Lisbon, Mateus has gained valuable Premier League experience over the past two seasons after first impressing at Southampton and then with West Ham last term.

The vastly experienced goalkeeper joined his team-mates for the first time as pre-season kicked-off at Hotspur Way.

Gym work was the order of the day as the squad were put through a series of strength and power tests at our Enfield training base.

Capped 60 times by Slovakia, Martin spent seven years at Newcastle, racking up 179 appearances before a switch to Burnley last season, where he started 35 of 38 matches in the Premier League.

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder enjoyed a successful loan spell with Bristol Rovers in League Two during the second half of last term, scoring six goals in 19 appearances.

A product of our Academy system, the Morocco Under-20 international was part of our Under-17 and Under-18 Premier League Cup double-winning youth side in 2022/23 and was involved in our Under-21s’ Premier League 2 title triumph the following year.

Andy was at a number of the group stages matches in America and with six European countries making up the last eight, who better to run the rule over the quarter-final ties?

England vs Norway

Miami | Saturday 11 July | 10pm UK

Andy: "Ultimately, we know England have the best squad they've had for generations, but in terms of the football, to me, it all seems a little bit disjointed still. It does feel as if we're heavily relying on the absolute elite level players that we have - so much rests on Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. Even in the game at the Azteca, which was a really brave performance (3-2 win against Mexico in Round of 16), it was a brave performance in terms of defending and without the ball - it wasn't England dictating terms. I think particularly when you bear in mind that Norway dominated possession against Brazil (2-0 in the Round of 16), which no-one would have thought before the game, and certainly not before the World Cup, then it's quite interesting to see how this game will pan out."

"Thomas Tuchel is there for one reason, to win the World Cup. I don't think he cares less about the style if England get it done. He's obviously putting the best individuals in a position to do that. I think it would probably be better for people's heart rates if England were able to exert more control over games, but I don't think they're going to suddenly start doing that. The fact that it appears Declan Rice isn't 100% fit is a massive break on being able to do that as well, because he's such an influential player and he's probably only at about 60% of his capacity at the moment. I think there are big defensive question marks, which obviously up against Erling Haaland is a big deal. Having said that, it's so hard to back against Bellingham and Kane. I think that's the bottom line really. If you're asking me, do I think England will go out there and hammer Norway? No. Do I think they'll go out there and dominate against Norway? Maybe not. But I do think that if you look at the bits where Brazil made it difficult for Norway, and they did that despite having a third of possession, and Orjan Nyland made a load of good saves, it wasn't that Brazil showed superior technical qualities to Norway, it's that they were physically able to get at them. The major difference for England between this World Cup and Euro 2024 is that Kane and Bellingham are really fit. That makes the difference. For that reason, I think England will get it done."

Argentina vs Switzerland

Kansas City | Sunday 12 July | 2am UK

Andy: "I think when we saw this half of the draw opening up for Argentina and we looked at Lionel Messi absolutely dismantling teams in the group stages, maybe it was easy for people to say, 'right, okay, we know where we are, this is going to be an England-Argentina semi-final all day long'. However, Argentina have creaked quite badly, I think on a couple of occasions. We talked about teams having one bad game or one big scare on the way to the final - Argentina have had a couple and I think really if you can try and stop the supply line to Messi, obviously that's a huge deal. He can't get it on half way and run past five players anymore, he just can't do that. That's a big difference."

"I think Switzerland are quite well equipped to deal with a lot of the threats that Argentina have. I think a huge part of this game is not just about controlling Messi, it's also if Switzerland can get at that Argentina defence, where some players are out of form, not at peak fitness, not getting picked for their clubs regularly on some occasions - against Egypt (came from 2-0 down to win Round of 16 tie 3-2) for example, Nahuel Molina and Nicolás Tagliafico, neither finished last season as first-choice for their clubs. Look, if you're Switzerland, maybe it's not your first instinct to have a go, but I think the more they do have a go, the more they can make it difficult for Argentina. There's way more quality in the Swiss team than people would like to admit, Granit Xhaka coming off a fantastic season at Sunderland is an example. So many of those players play for Europe's best teams. They're difference makers for Europe's best teams, so maybe they don't get the credit they deserve. Having said all that, my guess here would be Argentina on penalties."

Our flying full-back was involved in the move that led to Fabian Ruiz's opener on 30 minutes.

Charles De Ketelaere levelled 10 minutes later for Belgium and it took until the 88th minute for Spain to find the winner when Senne Lemmens - on for the injured Thibout Courtois - spilled Pau Cubarsi's shot and Mikel Merino was there to convert the rebound.

It's only the second time Spain have reached the last four of the World Cup - the last time was 2010, when they went on to beat the Netherlands in the final in South Africa.

Now, Kylian Mbappe and France await in the semi-finals in Dallas on Tuesday evening (8pm UK).

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