Spurs at the World Cup | 2022

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.

Here's the final instalment looking back at the Spurs players to grace the biggest footballing stage of all...

Spurs at the World Cup | 2022

We waited 88 years and 20 tournaments for a Spurs player to win the World Cup – then two lifted the trophy in the space of four years!

Following Hugo Lloris’ success with France in 2018, Cristian Romero was an integral part of the Argentina side that ensured Lionel Messi followed in the footsteps of Diego Maradona by winning the great price of all. By the time of the final, a Spurs player was going to come back to Hotspur Way as world champion – Cuti’s Argentina took on Hugo’s France in an epic final.

Cristian Romero

Cuti played in all seven of Argentina’s matches en route to winning the trophy, starting six of them including the final. He was in the Albiceleste’s starting XI for their opening game 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history, but was taken off on 59 minutes and didn’t start the next game against Mexico. However, after playing the final 21 minutes in the 2-0 win over Mexico, he then started every subsequent game – Poland, Australia, a quarter-final thriller against the Netherlands that went to penalties, Croatia and then a memorable final against France. Argentina led 2-0 until Kylian Mbappe’s late double took it to extra time. Messi made it 3-2, only for Mbappe’s hat-trick goal two minutes from time to take it to penalties – Argentina scored four out of four to win it 4-2.

Hugo Lloris

Club captain Hugo came close to becoming the first player in history to lift the World Cup trophy twice, only for France to lose the final to Argentina. However, he did become a record-breaker when he featured against England in the quarter-finals, becoming France’s most-capped player by winning his 143rd cap. Hugo was on the pitch for every minute of six out France’s seven matches, missing the third group game against Tunisia when his country had already qualified.

Harry Kane, Eric Dier

Harry became England’s joint top goalscorer during the tournament, but suffered the heartbreak of missing a crucial penalty in the quarter-final against France as the Three Lions’ exited the competition. Kane’s successful penalty in that game, scoring against Hugo Lloris, took him level with Wayne Rooney on 53 England goals, but he missed his second spot-kick with seven minutes remaining as his side lost 2-1. The England captain, Harry started all five of his nation’s games, also scoring against Senegal in the Round of 16. Eric featured in two matches, twice called off the bench by England manager Gareth Southgate, featuring for 20 minutes in 6-2 group stage win over Iran and played the final 13 minutes of his nation’s 3-0 defeat of Senegal in the Round of 16.

Ivan Perisic

A runner-up with Croatia at the 2018 World Cup, Ivan helped his country to a third-place finish this time around. The midfielder played more minutes in the 2022 tournament than any other outfield player in the Premier League, starting all seven of Croatia’s matches as they defeated Morocco in the third/fourth place play-off. Ivan scored once, in the 1-1 draw with Japan in the Round of 16, which Croatia won on penalties. They did the same against Brazil in the quarters before succumbing to Argentina in the last four.

Richarlison

Richarlison was our top scorer at the tournament with his three-goal haul. A regular starter for his country, Richy opened his account with both goals in Brazil’s opening game 2-0 win over Serbia with his second a Goal of the Tournament contender as he controlled, swivelled and fired home an acrobatic volley. He featured in four matches in total, missing the final group game against Cameroon, and scored his third goal in the 4-1 defeat of South Korea in the Round of 16, before Brazil exited on penalties to Croatia.

Heung-Min Son

Featuring in his third World Cup, Sonny made it 10 appearances in the Finals as he added four more games to his tally last month. Sonny was in tears as he helped South Korea reach the Last 16, setting up Hwang Hee-Chan to score a dramatic late winner against Portugal to secure second spot in their group. However, Sonny, who captained South Korea, was unable to prevent his side losing 4-1 to Brazil in the Round of 16. He played every minute of his side’s four games.

Pape Matar Sarr

African champions Senegal reached the Round of 16 at last month’s tournament, with Pape Matar Sarr featuring in two of their four games. Although yet to make a competitive first team appearance for us, the midfielder came off the bench for the final 13 minutes of Senegal’s 3-1 group stage win over hosts Qatar and was introduced as a half-time substitute during his side’s 3-0 defeat by England in the Last 16.

Rodrigo Bentancur

Rodrigo Bentancur’s World Cup ended in a double disappointment as he was forced off injured in Uruguay’s final group game, which saw them exit the competition despite a 2-0 win over Ghana. The defensive midfielder had started both previous matches in the group stage as Uruguay drew 0-0 with South Korea and lost 2-0 to Portugal. He was substituted in the 34^th minute against Ghana and had to watch on from the bench as his side won but South Korea’s victory over Portugal in the other game saw them progress at Uruguay’s expense.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was ever-present for Denmark at the tournament, as they failed to progress past the group stage. Making his World Cup debut, Hojbjerg played every minute of Denmark’s three group matches but there was disappointment for the all-action midfielder as his side drew 0-0 with Tunisia before suffering defeats to France (2-1) and Australia (1-0).

Ben Davies, Joe Rodon

Wales were making their first appearance at a World Cup since 1958 and Ben and Joe featured in all three of their group games in Qatar. He started every game, playing the full 90 minutes as Wales drew 1-1 with USA and then lost 2-0 to Iran, before being substituted 59 minutes into their 3-0 defeat to England in the final game, a result which ended their interest in the competition.