How Tottenham Hotspur Players Performed at the World Cup | OneFootball

Twelve Spurs stars took part in the World Cup this summer, including recent additions Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson and Jan Paul van Hecke. Going into the quarter-final, just four of remain.

This is how the Tottenham players have succeeded and failed at this global 48-team competition.

Cristian Romero (Argentina)

The best-performing Spurs player at the tournament so far is undoubtedly Cristian Romero. After coming back from a knee injury he suffered in Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge of the club, Romero has been key to Argentina getting so far in the competition.

With Argentina and minnows Cape Verde level in extra time of the round of 32, it was Romero who scored the winning goal to save his nation from embarrassment. But he was not done saving Argentina yet.

With Argentina 2-0 down against Egypt and only ten minutes left to play, Romero once again scored a header, this time to get them back into the match, which they eventually won late on. Goals from Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández secured the victory.

Romero and Argentina defeated Switzerland 3-1 in Saturday’s quarterfinal, but needed extra-time.

Djed Spence (England)

Spence’s performances so far have been met with mixed reactions from England fans, but he has quietly been a very solid defender in Thomas Tuchel’s squad.

His most notable moment of the tournament actually happened away from football, when he was the only player to refuse to shake Thomas Partey’s hand before England’s match with Ghana. Partey has plead not guilty to seven charges of rape and is due in court next year.

Aside from that, Spence has started two games so far, against Ghana and Panama, and was key in England’s 3-2 win over Mexico, where a last-ditch tackle from him prevented the North American side from levelling the match late on.

England face Norway in the quarterfinals, and Spence came on in the final five minutes as the match entered extra time. He thought he had drawn a penalty kick in extra time, which was overturned by VAR.

Pedro Porro (Spain)

Pedro Porro was not selected to start Spain’s first match of the tournament, and he can almost say he was lucky not to have. Marcos Llorente started that match at right back against Cape Verde in a match that ended in a 0-0 draw. Ever since then, Porro has started every match in the right back berth and Spain has not looked back.

Alongside some very good showings in a defense that has only conceded a single goal, Porro scored his first-ever international goal in their 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia.

Porro and Spain next face France in the semifinals

Jan Paul van Hecke (Netherlands)

Another Spurs goalscorer, and another defender too, Jan Paul Van Hecke joined Spurs midway through the tournament, and he showed everyone why he was bought for nearly $70 million this summer.

Van Hecke was an ever-present for the Dutch, but his good performances alone were not enough to send the Dutch through all the way. They eventually lost on penalties to Morocco in the round of 32 after Issa Diop scored a very late header to level late on.

Micky van de Ven (Netherlands)

Micky van de Ven is the second Dutchman in the Spurs squad, and although not as impressive as van Hecke, he still had a good tournament.

He played mostly as a left back throughout the tournament and played 90 minutes in the first two group games, was rested in the third before playing 86 minutes of their round of 32 loss to Morocco.

Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay)

Rodrigo Bentancur will not want to look back at this World Cup fondly, nor will any of his Uruguayan teammates. He played every minute as his side failed to win a game, including draws against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde. 

Andy Robertson (Scotland)

Spurs’ new signing Andy Robertson is another player who will not want to look back at this World Cup. After a 1-0 win against Haiti, the Scotland captain would have thought that he and his team were about to have a tournament to remember, but it was not to be.

He played the full 90 minutes as the Scots were beaten 1-0 by Morocco before being substituted at half-time in a 3-0 loss to Brazil.

Kevin Danso (Austria)

Kevin Danso had a good tournament as Austria qualified for the second round for the first time since 1982.

He started two matches, against Argentina and Spain, both of which they lost. However, he played over half an hour of their 3-1 win over Jordan in the first game of the tournament.

Marcos Senesi (Argentina)

Marcos Senesi signed for Tottenham on the 10th of June and was then called up to the Argentina squad on the 11th – a rollercoaster two days for the defender.

Game time has been hard to come by for the defender, whose only start came in a 3-1 win over Jordan in their final group game. In that match, Senesi did register an assist when he won a penalty, which Lautaro Martínez took and scored.

Lucas Bergvall (Sweden)

In his first World Cup, Lucas Bergvall failed to make a massive impact in a Sweden side that struggled across the tournament.

The 20-year-old registered an assist in their 5-1 win over Tunisia in the group stages, but other than that, he never really made his mark in limited game time across the tournament. In fact, the only game he did start was the 3-0 loss to France in the round of 32. However, the young star will have plenty more World Cups in the future to make his mark.

Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal)

Pape Matar Sarr is another young Spurs midfielder who failed to make his mark on the tournament.

Despite being so young, this was his second World Cup tournament after Qatar 2022, but he did not start a single match. The 23-year-old only came on against Norway and Belgium. 

Senegal were 2-0 up against Belgium with less than ten minutes to go when they were pegged back by two late goals. Sarr’s free kick in the last minute of that match, which went sailing well over the bar, summed up the Senegal performance that day.

Antonin Kinsky (Czechia)

Antonin Kinsky traveled to the World Cup, but did not play a single match. Czechia only earned one point and were knocked out in the group stages.