From super-sub to history-maker: How every Tottenham star has fared at World Cup so far | OneFootball

Mixed fortunes for Spurs players during thrilling first week of the tournament in North America

It has been an exhilarating opening to the 2026 World Cup, with plenty of goals, drama and entertainment during the first round of group fixtures.

France, Argentina, Germany and England all got off to the perfect start, with convincing wins in their opening games.

European Championship holders Spain, though, were remarkably held to a 0-0 draw by World Cup debutants Cape Verde, while Portugal also failed to get the better of the DR Congo.

With as many as 12 players at this summer’s tournament, there has also been plenty of Tottenham interest to keep across over the last week.

Kevin Danso (Austria)

Came off the bench in the second half as Austria scored twice late on to secure a 3-1 win over Jordan. Ralf Rangnick’s side are in a strong position to progress into the last 32, but face reigning champions Argentina next.

Cristian Romero (Argentina)

Talking of Argentina, it was a great start for Romero and the holders as a Lionel Messi hat-trick saw them coast to a 3-0 win over Algeria. The Spurs captain played 80 minutes before he was replaced by veteran defender Nicolas Otamendi.

Luka Vuskovic (Croatia)

With plenty of talk around his future, Croatia’s Group L opener against England was supposed to be a platform for Vuskovic to show what he could do.

Instead, England were dominant, producing 11 shots on target en route to a deserved 4-2 win.

Valuable option: Djed Spence came on as a late substitute during England’s win over Croatia in Dallas

Djed Spence (England)

Spence may not have started against Croatia, but his brief cameo off the bench underlined why Thomas Tuchel decided to pick him ahead of more established names.

Spence’s pace helped stretch a tiring Croatia side, and it was his running that contributed to England’s fourth goal.

Tuchel has clearly defined roles and reasons for each player he has selected, and Spence proved why, despite a difficult domestic season, he was chosen to provide cover for England’s full-backs.

Micky van de Ven (Netherlands)

Van de Ven endured a frustrating opening game as the Netherlands were pegged back late on against World Cup dark horses Japan.

Van de Ven played the full 90 minutes at left-back and will have been bitterly disappointed with the manner in which Japan equalised for the second time.

Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal)

Sarr was an unused substitute as Senegal lost 3-1 to France in their Group I opener in New York.

Despite having the better of the chances early on, the Lions of Teranga were unable to make their dominance count and were ultimately well beaten by Didier Deschamps’ star-studded side.

Lucas Bergvall (Sweden)

Bergvall made a telling contribution off the bench to assist Yasin Ayari as Sweden eased to a 5-1 victory over Tunisia in their first match in Group F.

Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay)

Held to a frustrating 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia, as Uruguay failed to capitalise on Spain’s slip-up against Cape Verde in Group H.

Bentancur played the full 90 minutes as Maxi Araujo eventually cancelled out Abdulelah Al-Amri's opener.

Tough test: Rodrigo Bentancur and Uruguay could only salvage a draw against Saudi Arabia, despite their dominance

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Andy Robertson (Scotland)

Robertson captained Scotland to their first World Cup win in 36 years as they beat Haiti 1-0 in Boston.

Steve Clarke’s side are currently top of Group C and stand a good chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.

A late call-up to Lionel Scaloni’s squad to replace the injured Leonardo Balerdi, new Spurs signing Senesi was an unused substitute as Argentina made the perfect start to their title defence against Algeria.

Jan Paul van Hecke (Netherlands)

Tottenham’s latest arrival started alongside Van de Ven as the Netherlands were held to a 2-2 draw by Japan.