Tottenham Hotspur

Laying the foundations: One Year of Martin Ho  Tottenham Hotspur

The reigning champions led twice through Lionel Messi (29 minutes) and Lisandro Martinez (93, extra time) only for the World Cup debutants to level twice - first via Deroy Duarte's low drive from the angle (59) and then an incredible goal from Sidny Lopes Cabral curling into the top corner for 2-2 in extra time.

Cuti struck the decisive blow in the second half of extra time (111) when he met Messi's corner with a towering header that took a deflection off Diney Borges and nestled in the far corner.

Marcos Senesi remained an unused substitute as Argentina set up a Round of 16 clash against Mo Salah's Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday evening (5pm).

Djed Spence and Pedro Porro return to action in the Round of 16 on Monday - England take on Mexico at the Azteca (1am) before Pedro's Spain face Portugal in Dallas (8pm).

Mateus Fernandes in profile  Tottenham Hotspur

Ben: Welcome to Spurs! What are your first thoughts on joining us?

Mateus: “I'm very happy, I'm very excited for this next step. Of course, it's a massive club. I already know the city, the country. I spoke with the manager. I think he was the main key for me to join Tottenham and the project. We will fight for Premier League, we will fight for the first place.”

When Roberto De Zerbi talks, he makes you excited, right?

Mateus: “The way he spoke with me, with my family, it was very special for me and for my family. So, yeah, I'm very excited to meet him, to meet the fans, to meet everyone and try to do my best and enjoy the moment as well. I think we need this type of people, not just as a manager, but as a guy to try to take everything of you. It can be very special for me. I fully believe in him and this club. The way he spoke about me to my family, with me, made the decision easy.”

What did he tell you about the project at the moment?

Mateus: “You want to do a strong team, not just to play a few games, but to go to the pitch away and at home and to play eyes to eyes, you know, with blood, with energy, with fight. And this is the way I play football. I play football to win, to beat the other team, to beat the other players. So, we are in the same level. Now it's my job to do my best to help the team, to help the manager and to help the club.”

Tell us about your game - when you look at your heat map, it's everywhere! What's your position?

Mateus: “For me, I feel more healthy when I play, like, number eight, box to box. When I was in Southampton, I was playing more in front, like a winger, but I always played deeper when I was in Sporting. So, I can play winger, I can play striker, I can play midfielder. I just want to help the team, to help my teammates, improve my game as well. I know that I need to score more goals, give more assists, fight even more because I want to win titles.”

You seem very comfortable under pressure on the ball. Do you like that pressure?

Mateus: “I always learned this when I was in Sporting, to play with the ball, to try to control the game, trying to use my head, you know, because it's not just about who runs more, or who fights more. It's just who knows the timing to pass, to attack, to defend. So, everything that I am today, it's because I was before and I learned before. I'm ready for this next step. I'm ready for this pressure. It's one thing that I work for. So, I'm very excited to play for a big club, for a manager that wants to win titles. This was the main reason.”

You can see from the moment you joined Southampton, you tried to work on your English so you could communicate well. Why was that important to you?

Mateus: “Now I'm more ready to be on this level, because when I joined Southampton, I was, my English was very bad. I just spoke Portuguese and Spanish and no one spoke Portuguese and Spanish there, it was just English. So, this helped me a lot. I was living alone, so now I have my girlfriend, I have my family here. I'm stronger now, so I'm ready for the next steps. That's it, everything is about trying to improve. Now I'm going to the club with a different pressure, with maybe a different mentality. What I believe, what I can do, I believe in me. I know that I can improve the team and improve the club. I'm here to help the team, to help the manager and improve with him as well.”

Who do you lean on to give you advice or support when you're making big decisions like this?

Mateus: “My family, they always have a good part of my decisions. My girlfriend, my agents, everyone around me. I spoke with them, I spoke with Pedro as well. I played with him at Sporting.”

What did Pedro tell you about us?

Mateus: “He spoke about everything. He spoke about the manager, the mentality change in the group, the training ground, the stadium. Of course, London, it's a city that I know now, but he spoke about the city as well. He told me many, many good things about the club, so I'm ready. I told him I'm ready to fight for titles and this is our way. Now I try to do my best.”

You had a brilliant season last season – what do you put your form down to?

Mateus: “Now I'm in a good way, but I know everything can change quickly. if I do, I don't know, one, two games not too good, the people can start to put pressure on, and this is the football, this is the way of football. I'm very confident about me. I know the quality that I have, what I can do for the team, what can I do to improve the team. I try to look for one game and then when I play, I try to look for the next game. I don't try to look for the future, try to win the present. I think it's the most important.”

Pedro Porro played a key role in Spain’s comfortable 3-0 win over Kevin Danso’s Austria on Thursday evening, netting his first-ever international goal to help his side march on to the Last 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The all-action defender produced an excellent performance at the Los Angeles Stadium, solid in defence and always prepared to get forward when the opportunity arose, and he capped his display with an excellent header from Alex Baena’s cross in the 66th minute.

Of course, while Porro celebrated, there was disappointment for Danso as his tournament came to an end. He also featured for the whole game, however Austria found it tough going and only created a couple of half chances late in the game.

Choose your all-time Spurs World Cup XI

The pair were team-mates at Sporting CP in Lisbon, Portugal between 2020-2023 – Mateus graduating from Sporting’s academy, Pedro joining from City. They started a game together and were regularly in the squad together in January, 2023 before Pedro’s switch to N17.

Now the pair will be reunited after we announced Mateus’ arrival from West Ham on Thursday morning. Pedro, who signed a new deal last month, is currently on World Cup duty with Spain, but it won’t be long before they are set to share a dressing room again.

Speaking in his first interview, Mateus told us: “I spoke with Pedro Porro. I played with him at Sporting and he spoke about everything. He spoke about the manager, the mentality change in the group, the training ground, the stadium. Of course, London, it's a city that I know now, but he spoke about the city as well.

“He told me many, many good things about the club, so I'm ready. I told him, 'I'm ready to fight for titles' and this is our way. Now, I try to do my best.”

Featuring regularly for Sporting’s B team in the third tier aged just 17 in 2021/22, Mateus played 10 times for the first team before an impressive loan in the Premier Liga with Estoril (35 appearances) in 2023/24. That earned a move to the Premier League and Southampton in 2024.

"It was put to Mateus that his confidence on the ball under pressure in tight midfield areas would have been drilled into him at Sporting. “Yes, I learned this when I was in Sporting, to play with the ball, to try to control the game, trying to use my head.

"It's not just about who runs more, or who fights more, it's just who knows the timing to pass, to attack, to defend. So, everything that I am today, it's because I was before and I learned before.”

SPURSPLAY

Our fifth signing of such an exciting summer so far – joining Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke and Martin Dubravka through the door at Hotspur Way – the Portugal midfielder’s switch from West Ham was announced on Thursday morning.

Mateus’ excitement was palpable as he spoke to us about this next chapter. “I spoke with the manager. I think he was the main key for me to join Tottenham and the project. The way he spoke with me, with my family, it was very special for me and for my family.

“I'm very excited to meet him, to meet the fans, to meet everyone and try to do my best and enjoy the moment as well.

“I think we need this type of people, not just as a manager, but as a guy to try to take everything of you. It can be very special for me. I fully believe in him and this club. The way he spoke about me to my family, with me, made the decision easy.

“I'm ready for this next step. I'm ready for this pressure. It's one thing that I work for. So, I'm very excited to play for a big club, for a manager that wants to win titles.”

Getting set for our second season under Head Coach Martin Ho, our fixture list for next season will be published on Thursday 30 July at 10am UK time.

Our fixtures will be released with provisional dates with the schedule, as always, subject to change.

From 2026/27 onwards, we will have 26 matches in total – four more than our previous campaigns - following the league’s expansion from 12 teams to 14 with Birmingham City, Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic securing promotion from WSL 2.

The WSL’s season opening weekend will be across Friday 4 September, 2026, to Sunday 6 September and will conclude on the weekend of 21-23 May, 2027.

The 21-year-old Portugal international midfielder joins us from West Ham United in a deal announced earlier this morning.

“I'm very happy, I'm very excited for this next step,” he told us. “Of course, it's a massive club. I already know the city, the country. I spoke with the manager. I think he was the main key for me to join Tottenham and the project. We will fight for Premier League. We will fight for the first place.”

A product of Sporting CP’s illustrious academy – graduates include former Spur, Eric Dier – Mateus will be a familiar face for fans after gaining valuable Premier League experience over the past two seasons after first impressing at Southampton – where he won Saints’ Player of the Season award in 2024/25 - and then with West Ham last term.

“Now, I'm more ready to be on this level, because when I joined Southampton, I was, my English was very bad,” Mateus reflected. “I just spoke Portuguese and Spanish and no one spoke Portuguese and Spanish there, it was just English. So, this helped me a lot.

“I was living alone, now I have my girlfriend, I have my family here. I'm stronger now, so I'm ready for the next steps. That's it, everything is about trying to improve.

“Now I'm going to the club with a different pressure, with maybe a different mentality. What I believe, what I can do - I believe in me. I know that I can improve the team and improve the club. I'm here to help the team, to help the manager and improve with him as well.

“I'm ready for this next step. I'm ready for this pressure. It's one thing that I work for. I'm very excited to play for a big club, for a manager that wants to win titles.”