On a night when Jarrod Bowen and El Hadji Malick Diouf secured their spots at the 2026 World Cup, another West Ham United player came within a whisker of breaking new ground on a record equalling night.
For him too, a spot at next summer’s Festival of Football is not entirely out of the question either.
While sealing his £40 million transfer from Southampton to West Ham United at the end of August, national team boss Roberto Martinez confirmed that Mateus Fernandes is ‘close’ to a first Portugal call-up.
A first senior call-up, that is.
Fernandes is determined to play at the World Cup in 2026. Hence, why he jumped at the chance to make a speedy return to the Premier League. West Ham, while hardly the Europa League-chasing force of a few years back, can at least offer the Sporting Lisbon academy graduate the chance to prove himself against elite talent on a weekly basis while remaining in Martinez’s sights.
So highly rated back home in Iberia, Mateus Fernandes was named Portugal’s Under-21 captain back in September too. It was he who donned the armband as Luis Freire’s free-scoring outfit obliterated Gibraltar 11-0 on Tuesday night.
A proud evening for Mateus Fernandes, even if the Hammers midfielder was ever-so slightly disappointed not to walk away with a record under his arm.
Mateus Fernandes ‘very happy’ as West Ham United ace helps Portugal beat Gibraltar
That 11-0 victory is Portugal’s joint-largest at Under-21 level. They beat Liechtenstein by the same scoreline back in 2021. Francisco Conceicao [Juventus], Nuno Tavares [Lazio, ex-Arsenal] and PSG frontman Goncalo Ramos would all find the net that day. Four times, in Ramos’ case.
Flash forward three years, Porto wonderkid Rodrigo Mora, Chelsea newbie Geovany Quenda and Rangers’ new £10 million centre-forward Youssef Chermiti joined Fernandes on the scoresheet in Gibraltar’s Europa Point Stadium.
This, coupled with the Czech Republic’s 2-1 defeat by Bulgaria, sees Portugal create daylight between themselves and their closest rivals at the top of their Under-21 Euro 2027 qualifying table.
“It was a very competitive game for us, in every aspect,” Fernandes told O Jogo. “We knew it would be difficult, due to the characteristics of the pitch. Last year we played in the Faroe Islands, also on synthetic turf, and we started losing, which was an example for this year.
“We knew the game would be very direct, with second balls, and we managed possession well, finding the best passes and being objective in our search for the goal.
“The coach [Luis Freire] was very pleased with our seriousness throughout the 90 minutes. We wanted even more. We wanted to break the record, but it wasn’t possible.”
Fernandes scored Portugal’s fifth of the day with a deflected strike from the edge of the box. That was his fourth goal at this level, from 20 caps.
“We were happy to be [at the top of] the group, especially with the other team losing,” adds the Algarve-born 21-year-old. “Qualifying is very competitive, so we had to be serious. Bold in a good way, and consistent.
“I’m very happy to score. I haven’t scored since the last time I joined the national team. It always feels good to score, and even more so for the national team. I’d never won a game 11-0, so it was also a new personal best!”
Crysencio Summerville explains what makes Fernandes unique
Mateus Fernandes enjoyed an ‘exceptional’ start to life at West Ham, though his performances and his impact have dipped a little since that 3-0 debut win at Nottingham Forest.
Nuno Espirito Santo utilised him alongside Soungoutou Magassa in a deep-lying defensive midfield pivot last time out against Arsenal. A position which exposed Fernandes’ weaknesses, Ebere Eze drifting in behind him in the build up to Declan Rice’s opener.
Furthermore, with the likes of Joao Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Matheus Nunes and Vitinha all ahead of him in Martinez’s pecking order, a place in the senior Portugal roster still feels like a long way off.
Getting back to his best, under compatriot Nuno at West Ham, would give his hopes a timely boost.
When running through the strengths of his various Hammers teammates last week, Crysencio Summerville highlighted Mateus Fernandes’ first-touch and his ability to skip through the smallest of gaps as an example of what he can bring to the table.
“Matty is really good!” Summerville said of a midfielder who loves to pick up possession and drive forward through the thirds. “Matty is really good in small spaces.
“[A good first touch is] very important because, if your first touch is good in small spaces, basically you are gone!” Summerville said, the former Leeds winger having used his standout attributes to devastating effect during that shock win at the City Ground in late-August.
“For me, as a winger, it’s really important, our first touch, because you decide where to go. The defender cannot catch you if your first touch is good.”
Elsewhere, on Tuesday night, Jarrod Bowen assisted the aforementioned Eze as England secured their World Cup spot with a 5-0 thrashing of Latvia. Malick Diouf’s Senegal ‘dream’ comes true, meanwhile, as a Sadio Mane-inspired 4-0 victory over Mauritanie guarantees a place of their own.
