Tottenham Hotspur

Robertson, our new recruit, started his 94th game for Scotland with a bang, overlapping Ryan Christie to the byline and putting in a dinked cut back for Lawrence Shankland to head home inside the first five minutes of their friendly against Bolivia at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey.

The Tartan Army went on to win 4-0 in their final game ahead of their opening World Cup game, their first since 1998, which is against Haiti in Group C on Sunday, 14 June. The full back, Scotland’s captain for the tournament and second all-time appearance maker, played the opening 45 minutes before being substituted for Kieran Tierney.

Spence also played 45 minutes on Saturday night as England beat New Zealand at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida. On his fifth cap for his country, the versatile 25-year-old, who started the game at left back, created the only goal of the game, moving the ball onto his right foot before whipping it into the penalty area for Spurs icon Harry Kane to flick into the net in stoppage time.

England manager Thomas Tuchel changed the entire starting 11 at the break, maintaining their one-goal lead throughout the second half of the first of their two pre-World Cup friendlies. Next up for the Three Lions is a clash with Costa Rica in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday, 10 June, before travelling west to Arlington, Texas, where they will play Croatia in the first game of Group L seven days later.

Elsewhere, Ben Davies’ Wales fell to defeat in their friendly against Romania in Bucharest, who were without Radu Dragusin, and Cuti Romero returned from the knee injury he sustained in April, coming on midway through the second half of Argentina’s 2-0 friendly win over Honduras.

Davies was an unused substitute for Wales on his return to a matchday squad for the first time since undergoing ankle surgery in January, while Romero played 27 minutes of Argentina’s first of two warm-up friendlies before they start their World Cup defence.

It all starts with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa at the famous Azteca (now known as the Estadio Banorte) in Mexico City. Co-hosted by USA and Canada, this will be the 23rd World Cup, the inaugural tournament back in 1930.

As we build up to the summer’s football fest, we take a look at the Spurs players to feature on the greatest stage of all...

Christian Ziege

Christian Ziege became the first Spurs player to ever feature in a World Cup Final when Germany reached the showpiece match in 2002.

An established international who had made his debut for Germany in June, 1993, in a 3-3 draw with Brazil, Ziege was an integral part of their squad for the 2002 tournament, held for the first time in Asia in Korea and Japan that year.

And he wrote his name into our record books at the event, as he made his appearance as an 84th-minute substitute in the final that Germany lost 2-0 to a Ronaldo-inspired Brazil.

Ziege started all three of Germany’s group games as they successfully emerged from Group E, featuring in the 8-0 win over Saudi Arabia, the 1-1 draw with Republic of Ireland – in which a certain Robbie Keane snatched a 92nd-minute equaliser – and a 2-0 victory against Cameroon. But a yellow card picked up against the Africans, one of 12 awarded in the match, meant Ziege was suspended for the second round match against Paraguay

Germany progressed with a 1-0 win over Paraguay and Ziege was recalled for the quarter-final against the USA, in which Michael Ballack scored the only goal of the game. However, Germany coach Rudi Voller reshuffled his side for the semi-final against hosts South Korea in Seoul, with Christian among those missing out, where again Ballack was the match-winner.

Brazil, conquerors of England in the quarter-finals, stood between Germany and a fourth World Cup success, with Ziege was again only on the bench. By the time he emerged into the fray with six minutes left, Ronaldo had struck twice for the Brazilians and the trophy was heading to South America again.

Milenko Acimovic

Milenko Acimovic was a Spurs player by name, but had yet to pull on the famous Lilywhite shirt when he appeared at the 2002 World Cup with Slovenia.

He joined us from Red Star Belgrade in May that year, just a few weeks before the tournament and had to wait until the following season, 2002-03, before making his Spurs debut in our opening game against Everton, replacing Steffen Iversen as a substitute in our 2-2 draw at Goodison.

Slovenia headed to the Far East hoping to continue to surprise people and having been drawn in a group containing Spain, South Africa and Paraguay, a second round berth appeared within their grasp. But it wasn’t to be. They failed to reproduce their qualifying form in the finals and tumbled out, bottom of the group with three straight defeats.

Acimovic started on the bench in their opener against Spain, coming on in the 63rd minute but unable to prevent the Spanish winning 3-1, but he was in the starting line-up for the next two - a 1-0 defeat to South Africa ended Slovenia’s interest in the tournament, but Milenko’s personal highlight came in the final match against Paraguay, when he opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time. Slovenia were still leading 1-0 when he was substituted with 28 minutes remaining, only for the South Americans to score three times to steal the points.

Teddy Sheringham

Teddy Sheringham was enjoying his first spell at the Lane when he won his first England cap and was back here again when the curtain came down on his England career nine years later.

The striker made his international debut in Chorzow in May, 1993, as England drew 1-1 against Poland in a qualifying match for the 1994 World Cup, a campaign which was ultimately unsuccessful for the Three Lions as they failed to qualify under Graham Taylor.

Four years later at France, 1998, Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle had steered England to the final stages and had included Sheringham in his squad, but by this stage Teddy was wearing the colours of Manchester United. He did appear twice – against Tunisia and Romania - however it wasn’t until the 2002 tournament that he featured in a World Cup game as a Spur.

Having played in three qualifying games en route to Japan/South Korea – including scoring a crucial equaliser seconds after coming on as a substitute in England’s final qualifier against Greece at Old Trafford - Teddy became our oldest outfield player to ever feature in a World Cup at the age of 36.

He appeared in four of England’s five games – all as a substitute. Sven Goran Eriksson didn’t call on his services for their first group game, the 1-1 draw with Sweden, but Sheringham’s vast experience and know-how was certainly useful in the vital showdown with old foes Argentina in Sapporo.

After David Beckham’s 44th-minute penalty had given England the lead, Sheringham was introduced nine minutes into the second half and played a key role in keeping possession and frustrating the Argentines as the Three Lions held out for a 1-0 victory.

Sheringham then played the final 21 minutes of England’s next two matches, a goalless draw against Nigeria in Osaka to book their place in the second round, and the 3-0 defeat of Denmark to reach the quarter-finals.

Teddy’s international career was brought to an end by Brazil in Shizuoka in what was to be his 50th and final cap. He featured for the last 10 minutes, coming on for Ashley Cole as England – 2-1 down having gone ahead early on through Michael Owen – desperately searched for an equaliser. It wasn’t to be though as the Three Lions tumbled out.

When Maradona led Argentina victory at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, he seemed closer to winning that argument. Pele’s Brazil won three times, including the majesty of 1970. Then Messi took the crown in 2022.

It’s fair to say, however, that few players have inspired a team as much as Maradona in 1986 – including the infamous ‘Hand of God’ followed by the ‘Goal of the Century’ in the quarter-finals to knock out England.

Friends for life, legendary former Spurs midfielder Ossie Ardiles was there when Maradona broke through in the late 1970s – his first cap in 1977 (Ossie’s was in 1975) – there when he wasn’t selected for the 1978 World Cup, which Argentina won on home soil, and there again together when Maradona was kicked left, right and centre in Spain in 1982. Ossie had been out of the national team for four years by the time Maradona lifted the trophy as captain in 1986.

They were reunited again at Wembley in October, 2017, when Maradona spoke with Mauricio Pochettino and Harry Kane before our 4-1 win against Liverpool. Maradona passed away in 2020, aged 60.

So, back to our question for Ossie…

What’s it like to… play alongside Diego Maradona?

Ossie: “Coming into the World Cup in 1978, he had about five or six games. Every game, he was better and better and better. It was something that you cannot describe. You cannot describe how good he was. I mean, we were all national team players. We were pretty good, to be perfectly honest! But when he had the ball, he’s doing things and I said, ‘what is this? I mean, that's impossible’. He was improving in every game, but at the end of the day, Menotti said no. That was the worst day of his life. I mean, when it happened, he cried and cried and cried. So, all of us, we go to him, ‘well, Diego, you are going to have another opportunity, you are very young’ blah, blah, blah. I will say that was the worst day in his life, footballistically, or maybe in his life, full stop. That’s how much it meant to him.”

We then mentioned to Ossie Maradona’s treatment at the 1982 World Cup, where he was famously man-marked by Italy’s Claudio Gentile in the second round phase – he fouled Maradona a World Cup record 23 times, no player has been fouled by another more than seven times - the holders went out after losing to Italy and Brazil.

Ossie: “It was funny because somebody sent me a stat about the players who have most foul against then in the World Cup. Number one is Maradona in 1986 (53 fouls against). Number two is Maradona, 1990 (50). Number three is Maradona, 1982 (36). Then it’s Ariel Ortega (33 in France 1998) and number five is yours truly! Don’t forget in 1982, we only played five games – and Diego was the one who get sent off (against Brazil). Also, in 1978, for example, I was booked in the final! Some teams come to destroy you. It was so, so difficult to play. I'm just thinking about Diego. I can only imagine if he was playing right now… there are certain players that are kind of impossible to play. In my opinion, there are three players only - Pelé, Maradona and Messi. If they are okay, 100% okay, it's just, that's it, they will win the game. So, the only way to stop this player is like they did with Pelé and Maradona. Foul, foul, fouls and more fouls. With Messi, luckily now, in the way the football is played right now, they are much, much more protected.

“Maradona was simply, completely out of this world. I mean, you cannot start to describe it. Diego had so many problems outside football. I mean, taxes, women, cigarettes, whatever… you mention, Diego had it. But when he crossed the line, when he was inside the pitch, he was so, so happy. That was it. For 90 minutes, he was so, so happy. For example, when Argentina played England in 1986, went on to win the final, Diego, was the captain. Before the game he’s saying, ‘come on boys, we have to do this’, but for him, really, he doesn't need to do nothing. He was that good. That's it. He can go. He did it all for the other people - not for him. He doesn't need to at all. He knew that he was going to do.”

The midfielder entered the action on the hour and made her mark by threading through a fine pass for Lotta Lindström to complete the scoring. Eveliina Summanen remained an unused substitute.

That win gives Finland an outside chance of catching leaders Portugal in qualifying Group B3 as the pair meet in the final group game on Tuesday. Finland are three points adrift and need an eight-goal swing - although Portugal have won five out of five and have conceded just once!

Olivia Holdt impressed as she helped Denmark take a big step towards automatically qualifying for the 2027 finals with a 2-1 win against Sweden.

Holdt - up against team-mate Matilda Vinberg - had an early shot tipped over, began the move that led to Cecilie Floe's opener and went close on the hour before being substituted. Matilda followed her off after 69 minutes. Amanda Nilden was an unused substitute for Sweden.

That win takes Denmark top by three points with one game left - against Serbia, who are yet to win - and a draw will secure top spot. Sweden are heading for the play-offs.

Three of our players - Julie Blakstad, Signe Gaupset and Cathinka Tandberg - were in action for Norway in a huge clash against Germany in Group A4, with the winners guaranteed top spot and a place in the finals. Germany took a grip of it with two early goals. Signe had a goal disallowed just before half-time as Germany held on. Julie also started while Cathinka came off the bench on 83 minutes. Norway are also set for the play-offs.

Lize Kop started as Netherland suffered a late 3-2 loss at Republic of Ireland in Group A2. The group is wide open going into the final round of matches - France top with 10 points, ROI have nine, Netherlands eight. France host ROI next week, Netherlands take on Poland.

The 18-year-old, who was a regular in the Under-21s for his nation before joining us from St Patrick’s Athletic in January, was given his first call-up by international boss Heimir Hallgrimsson earlier this month and made his debut as a late substitute in their previous friendly, which was at home to Qatar.

Melia and co then travelled over to North America, where several friendlies are being played ahead of this summer’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, to face Jesse Marsch’s Canada in their final warm-up game before hosting the tournament.

The hosts took the lead in Montreal after a tricky Stephen Eustaquio corner caught the Irish defence off guard after 23 minutes, with the ball bouncing off the chest of Everton defender Jake O’Brien and travelling into their own net.

Chiedozie Ogbene pulled the visitors back level on the hour mark, though, converting on the rebound after Maxime Crepeau dived the right way and denied former Spurs striker Troy Parrott from the penalty spot.

Melia was introduced ten minutes later, replacing Benfica’s Jaden Umeh and joining Parrott in attack for the final 20 minutes of the match. The forward had the chance to steal the victory late on, being found by Ogbene in the penalty area on the counterattack 83 minutes in, but saw his low effort saved by a charging Crepeau.

The experienced and decorated Scotland international became our first addition of the summer on Friday afternoon and will join the club on 1 July following the expiration of his contract at Liverpool.

Here's 10 questions spanning the Scot's footballing journey with a particular Spurs flavour running through - best of luck!

Take the quiz

Darren Anderton, Sol Campbell, Les Ferdinand

Darren Anderton became the fourth Spurs player score for England at the World Cup in another rollercoaster tournament for the Three Lions that ultimately ended in heartbreak in France.

A key player for Terry Venables as England reached the semi-finals of Euro 96, Anderton remained a mainstay this time under Glenn Hoddle, who followed Venables into the hotseat. Indeed, Darren started all four of England’s matches against Tunisia, Romania, Colombia and Argentina – his goal-den moment coming when it really mattered in the final group game against Colombia.

England started well with a 2-0 win against Tunisia but were then shocked by Romania’s last-minute winner in Toulouse. That left a shoot-out against Colombia to progress with Romania expected to beat Tunisia and top group – they duly won 1-0 – and a moment of magic from Anderton settled the nerves, pinging home a beauty from the angle into the top corner on 20 minutes. David Beckham added the second and England were through.

Things turned sour for Beckham against Argentina – infamously sent off on 47 minutes – in a thriller. It was 2-2 at half-time and the 10 men stuck to their task to take the game to extra time and then penalties – where Argentina came out on top, 4-3. Sol Campbell, capped 40 times at Spurs, also started all four matches while Les Ferdinand was also in the squad but didn’t feature.

Colin Calderwood

Colin Calderwood didn’t make his international debut until he was 30, but that didn’t prevent him from featuring at two major tournaments for Scotland, including the 1998 World Cup in France.

Drawn against Norway, Morocco and Brazil, hopes were high that Scotland could reach the second round for the first time, despite an opening game defeat to the South Americans. That was Calderwood’s first taste of the football on the world stage and although faced with the daunting task of combating the significant threat of Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Bebeto, the Scots almost caused a major shock – they looked on course for a point at 1-1 until an own goal handed Brazil the win on 73 minutes.

Calderwood started the next group game against Norway, a 1-1 draw, but was withdrawn just before the hour mark and that proved to be his last action in the tournament as he was left out of the side for the final group game against Morocco - needing a win to progress, they crashed to a 3-0 defeat.

Jurgen Klinsmann

German striker Jurgen Klinsmann had already featured in two World Cups – winning in 1990 - when he travelled to France for the 1998 tournament as a Spurs player.

Germany were strongly fancied to do well again a squad including Klinsmann, Lothar Mattheus, Andreas Moller, Jens Jeremies, Oliver Bierhoff and the future Spurs pair of Steffen Freund and Christian Ziege.

Jurgen scored in the opening win against USA and after a comeback draw against Yugoslavia, he was on target again in a 2-0 win against Iran. It was the same story against Mexico in the Round of 16 – Mexico led and Germany had to wait until 74 minutes for Klinsmann’s equaliser. Oliver Bierhoff completed the turn around for a 2-1 win.

Just as Germany appeared to be shifting through the gears, disaster struck in the quarter-finals. Croatia, competing in their first World Cup since independence from Yugoslavia, caused one of the shocks of the tournament with a 3-0 triumph with Germany down to 10 men on 40 minutes. That was Klinsmann’s 108th and final appearance for his country, netting 47 times, including 11 in World Cups.

Allan Nielsen

It was just six years after Denmark had shocked the world by winning the 1992 European Championships and with a squad boasting the likes of Peter Schmeichel, the Laudrup brothers Brian and Michael, Thomas Helveg and Ebbe Sand, the Danes were hopeful of making another big splash at a major tournament.

Tigerish midfielder Allan – always remembered at Spurs for his late winner in the 1999 League Cup Final – started Denmark’s first game on the bench, a 1-0 win against Saudi Arabia, before making his mark in game two against South Africa as he started and opened the scoring on 13 minutes in a 1-1 draw.

He kept his place against France, a defeat, but four points took the Danes through to face Nigeria in the Round of 16. Nigeria took the scalps of Spain and Bulgaria en route to winning their group, but had no answer for Denmark, who won 4-1, Nielsen again starting.

Next up for Nielsen and co were Brazil - Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Bebeto et al – and the Danes were dreaming of glory when Martin Jorgensen gave them an early lead. Brazil hit back to win 3-2, with Nielsen substituted at half-time.

We confirmed the arrival of the highly decorated Scotland captain this afternoon, and the defender will join us on 1 July, following the expiration of his contract at Liverpool.

Michael joined us from Forest in 2005 before his move to Hull City in 2014. He was joined that summer by a young Scottish full-back by the name of Andy Robertson, who had impressed at Queen’s Park and then Dundee United.

Robertson became of the of the best left-backs around in three seasons at Hull and Daws was with him every step of the way – relegation from the Premier League in 2014/15, promotion straight back in 2015/16, where Andy played 52 games in all competitions and then relegation again in 2016/17. He joined Liverpool in the summer of 2017 – the rest is history...

Michael - what did you see in Andy Robertson when he walked through the door at Hull at the age of 20 at the start of the 2014/15 season?

Daws: “I'll tell you what I saw, I saw a great character, a great young man, a lad that was leaving Scotland for a new challenge in the Premier League. I saw a lad who was willing to learn from experienced players like myself, Curtis Davies, Tom Huddlestone, Robert Snodgrass and Alan McGregor, lads who took him under their wing, and I’ve probably missed a few players along the way as well, and he just took everything we said on board. He always wanted to learn, always wanted to improve and respected the fact the older lads who had been there were there to help him. Robbo had to learn quickly and I’m sure he won’t mind me saying that. He’d come from Queen’s Park and Dundee United, now he’s in the Premier League. We were in the ‘big league’ as Steve Bruce used to say, but he just bought into everything. He had a lot of lads who'd been around and everyone just took to him straight away, he was a real character at a young age. Robbo and Harry Maguire… to see what those two players have gone on to achieve is quite remarkable.”

Daws: “Now, I'd say he’s the finished article. We had two seasons in the Premier League together and a Championship campaign where we had a great group of players, got promoted, we all learnt and he had all these challenges to overcome. Then, when you go to a club of Liverpool’s stature, the pressure, the expectation… what he's given to Liverpool Football Club in the time he's been there and what he's won, the goals and assists, the way Jurgen Klopp got him and Trent Alexander-Arnold playing, was just quite remarkable. I saw him when we played at Anfield towards the end of last season. It was the first time I'd seen Robbo for a long time. It was great to catch up. He hasn't changed and now it's an honour to welcome him to this football club and it'll be amazing. He'll bring all his experience, all the leadership that he's learnt along the way from players like Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk, James Milner, Mo Salah, the list goes on. I've always loved watching him throughout his career and I'll certainly enjoy watching him play in this famous shirt that I wore for nine and a half years and was always proud to wear.”

In the ‘Making of a Lilywhite’ series, we sat down with Ruby to talk about her footballing journey so far and get to know her a bit better…

Beginning of her journey…

“When I was younger, around seven years old, my best friend's family were very much a football family and I was very close to them. So, one day, me and my best friend were just playing it in the garden and, ever since then, I've just played it all the time. We both went on to join Buckhurst Hill, one of my local teams, and then her dad became the manager, so I played there until I was 14 years old before my move to Spurs came about.

“I went to this football camp and there was this scout for the Club that said that ‘I was quite good’ and he knew Jenna [Schillaci] so then I went to a Spurs trial as well for the Under-14s age group – and I have been here ever since.”

The start of her time at Spurs…

“I joined at Under-14s level and I was in the same team as Jhanaie [Pierre] and Grace [Breen] who I’m with in the Under-19s set-up now. It was all quite smooth sailing in my first season, then I went on to play Under-15s, then the Under-16s where I got my opportunity with the Under-21s quite early in. It was a Final against Brighton & Hove Albion and that was when I made my first appearance for the Under-21s – now known as the Under-19s.

“I played the rest of the season with that age group, stepping up an age group higher most of the time before getting my offer for the Under-19s. Unfortunately, I got injured quite early on and had about 10 months out. I managed to come back in December, 2024 for my first game, played a few matches, around a month or so, and then got injured again. But, ever since then, I've been back, I'm better and I have enjoyed the last few weeks.”

“I feel a lot more comfortable around the environment and having people that you’ve had from the beginning of your journey, seeing how they've grown and seeing how you've grown as well, it's been really nice and being able to play week in, week out with them is really fun and exciting.”

A full circle moment at the Club…

“Myself, Mia [Endacott], Jhanaie and Sophie [Jackson] were in the squad for the first team against Arsenal in pre-season in August, which was brilliant. It’s quite interesting because I remember when I was younger, I went to Borehamwood to watch a game, it was Spurs v Arsenal and I got a photo there. So, then being involved in that fixture many years later was a full circle moment and it was quite good motivation to see what you want, how to achieve it with the first team, helping you become who you want to be.

“Even being around the first team in pre-season, it shows you the level, Martin [Ho] was very open and honest about what he wants out of players and kind of gave me that stepping stone you want to be in the first team.

“I’m quite a calming presence on the pitch and I always try to get on the ball, keep possession ticking over with different style of passes – long or short – and try to make as much of an influence on the match as possible.”

A leader on and off the field, the highly decorated Scotland captain will join the Club on 1 July following the expiration of his contract at Liverpool.

Sporting Director, Johan Lange, said: "We are delighted to welcome Andy to the club.

"First and foremost, he is an outstanding left-back - one of the best of all time in the Premier League, and someone who will improve our squad.

"In addition, his quality, character and leadership have been evident throughout a career in which he has regularly competed for - and won - major honours.

"Andy's professionalism and commitment will also be invaluable to the development of our squad, and he shares our ambition and determination to bring success back to the Club.

"We are excited for Andy's new chapter with us and look forward to having him here after the World Cup."

Head Coach, Roberto De Zerbi, said: "Andy is someone I've admired for a number of years and he will bring outstanding technical qualities, experience, leadership and mentality to our team.

"He is a proven winner at the highest level over a long period and is someone who can be a big player for us, both on and off the pitch.

"I can't wait to start working with him and seeing the positive impact he will have on everyone around him."

Vastly experienced with multiple winners’ medals to his name, Andy joins us following a remarkable nine years at Anfield.

Having made his first steps in senior football in 2012 with then amateur Glasgow side Queen’s Park, he has enjoyed an incredible rise to the top of English, European and international football in the years that have followed.

An intelligent player who plays with personality and heart, he has tasted success wherever he has been. From reaching the Scottish Cup final with Dundee United and being named the PFA Scotland’s Young Player of the Year in his first professional campaign to earning promotion to the Premier League at his next club Hull City in 2016, the left-back has continually prospered.

The following year, he made the move to Liverpool and success followed in abundance with the Scot scooping up every major honour on offer.

Reaching three UEFA Champions League finals with victory coming in the 2018/19 showpiece, the now 32-year-old also helped the Reds to the Premier League title, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup the following campaign before securing the FA Cup, League Cup and Community Shield in 2022. He then added a further Premier League winners’ medal to his collection in 2025.

An influential player in the dressing room, Andy grew into a leadership role during his time on Merseyside and was appointed vice-captain for the Reds ahead of his final season at Anfield.

Already captain of his country, wearing the armband for Scotland since September, 2018, the Glaswegian led his nation to the 2020 and 2024 UEFA European Championships before he skippered them to this summer’s World Cup – Scotland’s first appearance at the tournament this century.

Welcome, Andy!