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Tottenham pre-season tour 2024: Destination, fixtures, how to watch and more

Here’s a look at absolutely everything you need to know about Tottenham’s pre-season tour for summer 2024.

Tottenham are making preparations for the 2024/25 Premier League season, with their summer 2024 pre-season tour.

Spurs set up an Asia-Pacific tour for summer 2023, with Ange Postecoglou showing off the early work with his style of play.

A clash with West Ham played out in Australia, before disruption hit the tour, with matches against Leicester City and AS Roma unable to go ahead.

They instead faced Lion City Sailors in Singapore, before a match against Shakhtar Donetsk at home and then a final faceoff with Barcelona in Catalonia.

Postecoglou will certainly be hopeful that there’s less disruption this time around, as he prepares his side for the upcoming campaign.

With that said, here’s a look at everything you need to know about the Tottenham pre-season 2024 campaign.

Where is Tottenham’s pre-season tour 2024 taking place?

Tottenham are set for another pre-season tour in Asia, playing in both Japan and South Korea during July and August.

Tottenham pre-season 2024 tour fixtures

Tottenham kickstart their pre-season against Hearts and QPR, before they make the long trip to Asia for their training camp.

Spurs will make the trip to Japan in July first, as they have announced a pre-season clash with current J1 League champions Vissel Kobe.

The match between the two teams will take place on 27 July, at the Japan National Stadium, and marks 33 years since the Lilywhites last visited Japan.

Tottenham will then take on a K-League XI on July 31st, before back-to-back clashes with Bayern Munich.

The first tie against the Bavarian side will take place in Korea, before flying back to England for the reverse fixture.

That tie will be hosted at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, August 10, in the Visit Malta Cup as their final friendly before beginning league action.

It means a reunion with Harry Kane and Eric Dier is set to be on the cards for Spurs come the summer.

• Hearts – July 17th, 7pm (BST) – Tynecastle Stadium
• QPR – July 20th, 3pm (BST) – Loftus Road
• Vissel Kobe – July 27th, 11am (BST) – Japan National Stadium
• K-League XI – July 31st, 12pm (BST) – Seoul World Cup Stadium
• Bayern Munich – August 3rd, 12pm (BST) – Seoul World Cup Stadium
• Bayern Munich – August 10th, 5:30pm (BST) – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

How to watch

As per the previous pre-season tour, Tottenham’s matches should be available to watch on the club’s dedicated streaming service, SpursPlay. Annual passes currently cost £45 and grants you access to match replays and interviews too.

You can grab a SpursPlay subscription, here .

• Hearts tickets are sold out.
• QPR tickets are available here .
• Vissel Kobe tickets are available here .
• K-League XI tickets are sold out.
• Bayern Munich (in Korea) tickets are sold out.
• Bayern Munich (at Tottenham) tickets are sold out.

More will be announced in due course – so keep checking back for more.

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Tottenham to round out Asia preseason tour vs. Leicester in Thailand

It’s Tottenham’s first visit to Thailand, and they’ll be playing a (maybe) Championship team.

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Share All sharing options for: Tottenham to round out Asia preseason tour vs. Leicester in Thailand

Tottenham ’s preseason tour to Asia has now been finalized, with the club announcing today that they will take on Leicester City in a friendly match in Bangkok, Thailand on July 23. The announcement was made on Spurs’ social media accounts and their website.

We are delighted to announce that our Men’s First Team will visit Bangkok to face Leicester City on Sunday 23 July during this summer’s Asia-Pacific Tour 2023. — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) May 16, 2023

The club had already announced a visit to Australia (still, somehow, considered “Asia” by FIFA) to play against West Ham in Perth on July 18, and a return to Singapore to face AS Roma on July 25. This visit to Thailand, as expected, falls in the middle of the two dates.

It’ll be Spurs’ first ever visit to Bangkok for a friendly. Thailand probably doesn’t mean a lot to most Tottenham supporters, but it certainly will to Leicester City fans. Leicester’s past owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was a Thai national who was hugely popular with Foxes fans and who guided the club from relative obscurity to the Premier League title. Srivaddhanaprabha was tragically killed in 2018 after a helicopter he was riding in took off from the King Power Stadium and subsequently crashed, killing everyone on board. The club is now owned by Srivaddhanaprabha’s son, Aiyawatt.

Friendlies are friendlies, and in today’s day and age it’s as much (or more) about being seen by elements of your global fanbase that can contribute to your worldwide marketing as it is the actual football. That’s probably relevant this coming offseason considering that there’s a very real chance that Leicester are going to be relegated to the Championship by the end of this current season. But hey, a nice and easy friendly against a second division side is part and parcel of preseason preparations, right?

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Key Takeaways

• Spurs began the off-season in the UK before travelling to Asia to face the best teams from the continent.
• Ange Postecoglou's side came up against the likes of Vissel Kobe and a K-League XI.
• Spurs ended pre-season with back-to-back friendlies against Bayern Munich, losing twice.

As the sun shone on Bramall Lane during the final day of a long and eventful season, Tottenham Hotspur confirmed that they would be playing in the Europa League for the 2024/25 campaign. After losing Harry Kane a day before the season started, changing philosophies under Ange Postecoglou and having to deal with one of the worst injury crises known to man, it was an impressive performance for the boys in white.

With attacking football and a manager who is determined to win at all costs, the future looks bright for Spurs. "The future looks Lilywhite," as previous videos from the club have suggested, yet they still need to undergo a rebuild in north London. They started in 2023, bringing in a handful of players such as Micky van de Ven, James Maddison, one of the best signings in the league , and Brennan Johnson, but there is still a long road ahead before they even get close to the elite teams of Arsenal and Manchester City .

This is a project for the club after all. Their pre-season tour in the summer of 2024 allowed them to continue building on the foundations which they laid in 2023, and if their start so far is anything to go by, then Spurs could be in for a very exciting season indeed.

Man Utd Pre-Season Guide: Tour, Fixtures, Kick-Off Times & How to Watch

Man United will be hoping their pre-season tour can mark the beginning of a new era at Old Trafford.

Pre-Season Tour

Tottenham made the trip to Asia once again for their 2024 pre-season tour, initially playing in Japan before continuing their summer preparations in South Korea. The Lilywhites have a history of going on tour in Asia in recent times. Excluding the years impacted by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, when Spurs were forced to stay at home, 2018 was the last time they travelled somewhere else.

Most recently, they visited Thailand and Singapore in 2023, while Antonio Conte prepared his side for a prolonged and tiring 2022/23 season with a trip to South Korea. The current incumbent, Ange Postecoglou, made his support of the decision clear earlier in 2024. The Australian was in charge of Yokohama Marinos from 2018 to 2021, as he quickly created a connection with the side's passionate fanbase. He knows all about the country, which he highlighted when the announcement was made.

I'm delighted to be taking Tottenham Hotspur to Japan this summer for an exciting fixture against Vissel Kobe. This friendly will be another step in our preparations for the 2024/25 season.

It's not hard to see why Spurs chose to visit South Korea either. Club captain Son Heung-min , who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers in Tottenham's history , has built up a huge fanbase worldwide, but more specifically in his home country. If you go to a Spurs match, you will see a constant stream of supporters from the nation cheering the side on. They're not there just to see Son either, despite what some may suggest; they genuinely care about the club, just like any other supporter. This year, they had an easy option to see the Lilywhites instead of trekking halfway across the world. Announced on the day after the close of the season, Donna-Maria Cullen, Executive Director at the club, made her delight about the decision clear :

It is fantastic to have the opportunity to engage with our huge fanbase in the country. I know Sonny in particular can't wait to play again in front of his home fans, and it will be exciting for him to return while representing us as Club Captain.

Fixtures and Results

Tottenham started the pre-season period by travelling to face Hearts in Scotland. They have only played one another twice in competitive matches, with Spurs winning one and drawing the other back in 2011. The Premier League side romped to a 5-1 victory at Tynecastle in mid-July, fielding a strong lineup which included Son, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski. Tottenham completed the first UK leg of their tour with a London derby against Queens Park Rangers, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Yves Bissouma and Dane Scarlett.

Following that, Spurs embarked upon a trip to Asia, which saw them face Japanese giants Vissel Kobe and a K-League XI. The two fixtures produced 12 goals, as Spurs narrowly edged each helter-skelter contest. Son contributed three of the strikes while the academy sensation, Mikey Moore , continued his upward trajectory with an 88th-minute winner against Vissel Kobe.

Spurs scheduled two games in eight days against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich . The capital club were comfortably outplayed in their first match in Seoul, shipping a pair of goals to the Bavarian outfit led by Vincent Kompany before Pedro Porro halved the deficit. Postecoglou was too satisfied with the intensity of Tottenham's fitness and tactical preparation to be concerned with the result.

What's important is the training. As far as I'm aware, you don't get points for friendly games.

Then, the Visit Malta Cup was up for grabs when the two clubs reconvened at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, 10th August, a week before the start of the Premier League season. The history between the two sides in recent years doesn't need much of an introduction.

The last competitive encounter between Spurs and Bayern saw them go head-to-head in the Champions League group stage. Bayern won 3-1 at home, but more memorably, they destroyed Mauricio Pochettino's side 7-2 in north London. It is widely seen as one of the most humiliating performances of all time .

More recently, two players have moved from Spurs to Bayern. Harry Kane left his boyhood club, despite being their greatest striker of all time, in 2023 to join the Bavarian behemoths. It was in search of trophies, yet in his first campaign, he failed to win a single piece of silverware. Kane was still resting after his Euro 2024 excursions during pre-season but Eric Dier, another former Spurs stalwart, came off the bench in Seoul.

Following that initial 2-1 defeat, Spurs were again consigned to a loss by their Bavarian counterparts, going down 3-2 - a match that might perhaps now be best remembered for Kane choosing to turn down the opportunity to lift a trophy in front of the home support.

Who is Tottenham Teenage Sensation Mikey Moore

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Importance of Pre-Season

Pre-season is always an important - and often forgotten - part of the season. It can be the difference between winning the title and narrowly missing out, especially when the tactics are still new and fresh in the memory. Postecoglou has implemented an impressive style of play since joining from Celtic in 2023, but the work is only just beginning.

Liverpool Pre-Season Guide: Tour, Fixtures, Kick-Off Times & How to Watch

Liverpool's pre-season tour has allowed Arne Slot to get his first experience of life as the club's new manager.

He has repeatedly mentioned how this is a multi-year project in N17 - and he will be the last person to say he was happy with finishing fifth in the league table . Spurs have suffered from inconsistency, a common trend in the first year of a rebuild, but it will be up to the Australian to change that going into his second year in charge.

The club's big-money summer acquisition of Dominic Solanke came too late for him to partake in any first-team action over pre-season, but the hope will be that he will be able to hit the ground running as soon as he gets up to speed with his new teammates. The striker signed from Bournemouth will no doubt feel the pressure of having to shoulder the majority of the goal-scoring burden in the 2024/2025 Premier League season, but given his exploits with the Cherries, you certainly wouldn't put it past him doing exactly that.

The Lilywhites will have serious hopes of finishing in the top four and clinching a Champions League place this time around after narrowly missing out the season before. An exciting clutch of young talent, led by the likes of Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Mikey Moore could usher in a new and bright era at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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Club to visit Singapore during Asia-Pacific Tour 2023 | OneFootball

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Tottenham Hotspur

· 3 May 2023

Club to visit Singapore during Asia-Pacific Tour 2023

Tottenham Hotspur is delighted to announce that its Men’s First Team will visit Singapore during this summer’s Asia-Pacific Tour 2023.

Following on from the previously announced London Derby with West Ham United at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Tuesday 18 July , we travel to Singapore for a clash with Italian giants AS Roma at the Singapore National Stadium on Wednesday 26 July (kick-off 19:30 local time).

OneFootball Videos

Supported by Global Principal Partner, AIA, this will be the Club’s third visit to Singapore and our second in the past four years - the most recent of which in 2019 was made memorable by Harry Kane’s outrageous last-minute winner from the halfway line in a 3-2 victory over Juventus at the National Stadium.

This year’s visit will give the Club another opportunity to engage with its well-established and passionate fanbase in Singapore - our Official Singapore Spurs Supporters’ Club has been in existence for over 22 years.

Tickets for the AS Roma match will be made available to Season Ticket Holders, Premium Members, One Hotspur Members and Official Supporters’ Club members in an exclusive pre-sale from tomorrow (Thursday 4 May), 10am (Singapore time). Further details on how to purchase tickets will be communicated directly via email.

Tickets will then be available in a general sale via Ticketek Singapore from Monday 8 May, 10am (Singapore time).

To become a One Hotspur Member and gain access to the ticketing pre-sale, visit: https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/fans/membership/one-hotspur/

To find your nearest Official Supporters’ Club, visit: https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/fans/supporters-clubs/welcome/

A limited number of tickets remain available in the general sale for our previously announced match against West Ham at the Optus Stadium, Perth, Tuesday 18 July (kick-off 18:00 local time).

One further Tour 2023 match in an additional Asian city will be announced in the coming weeks – sign up for email updates here: https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/asia-pacific-tour-2023/

As is Club tradition, players and staff will be engaging in a range of activities to engage with our fanbase, support good causes, deliver grassroots football programmes and celebrate local culture across all cities we visit.

This includes Open Training events held at the host stadiums the day before each game. We can confirm that the open training session in Singapore will take place on Tuesday 25 July, Singapore National Stadium, 18:00 local time. Tickets will be available via this link from Monday 8 May, 10am (Singapore time): https://premier.ticketek.com.sg/shows/show.aspx?sh=THVSAROT

All Asia-Pacific Tour 2023 matches will be shown live on SPURSPLAY* – the Club’s official video streaming platform. Available for an annual subscription of £45 (£35 for Season Ticket Holders and One Hotspur Members), SPURSPLAY also brings you full 90-minute match replays, live Academy football and exclusive features and documentaries. Sign up at https://play.tottenhamhotspur.com/home .

*Matches available to all SPURSPLAY subscribers outside of the territories in which they are played...

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Tottenham set for Jose Mourinho reunion as new location added to Asia-Pacific pre-season tour

Tottenham have confirmed a new date to their pre-season tour which will see another clash against former manager Jose Mourinho's AS Roma

• 09:00, 3 MAY 2023

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Tottenham have confirmed that they will visit Singapore as part of their Asia-Pacific pre-season tour with the date set for a fixture against AS Roma. The Italian outfit are headed up by former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho and their clash confirmed to take place on Wednesday, July 26 follows on from the pre-season game arranged between the two teams last summer which Roma won 1-0.

Just eight days prior, Tottenham take on Premier League rivals West Ham in Perth, Australia with more fixtures likely to be announced in the coming weeks. The statement confirming the announcement read : "Tottenham Hotspur is delighted to announce that its Men’s First Team will visit Singapore during this summer’s Asia-Pacific Tour 2023.

"Following on from the previously announced London Derby with West Ham United at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Tuesday 18 July , we travel to Singapore for a clash with Italian giants AS Roma at the Singapore National Stadium on Wednesday 26 July (kick-off 19:30 local time).

READ MORE: Next Tottenham manager: Julian Nagelsmann deal 'in doubt' as Daniel Levy faces huge problem

"Supported by Global Principal Partner, AIA, this will be the Club’s third visit to Singapore and our second in the past four years - the most recent of which in 2019 was made memorable by Harry Kane’s outrageous last-minute winner from the halfway line in a 3-2 victory over Juventus at the National Stadium.

"This year’s visit will give the Club another opportunity to engage with its well-established and passionate fanbase in Singapore - our Official Singapore Spurs Supporters’ Club has been in existence for over 22 years.

"Tickets for the AS Roma match will be made available to Season Ticket Holders, Premium Members, One Hotspur Members and Official Supporters’ Club members in an exclusive pre-sale from tomorrow (Thursday 4 May), 10am (Singapore time). Further details on how to purchase tickets will be communicated directly via email.

"Tickets will then be available in a general sale via Ticketek Singapore from Monday 8 May, 10am (Singapore time)."

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Tottenham pre-season 2023/24: Fixtures and schedule

• Spurs travel to Australia and Asia for pre-season commitments
• First viewing of new manager Ange Postecoglou in action
• Fixtures include West Ham, Shakhtar Donetsk and Barcelona

By James Cormack | Jul 24, 2023, 2:25 PM GMT+1

It was a season that promised so much, but 2022/23 was a campaign of misery and toxicity on the Lilywhite side of north London.

Antonio Conte is long gone and following a rather lengthy managerial search that threatened to mirror the embarrassment of 2021, Ange Postecoglou was chosen as the man to lead a much-needed rebuild.

Only time will tell whether Spurs were right to gamble on the Australian coach, but many believe big Ange was a risk the club had to take. Following years of pragmatism in the post-Poch world, Tottenham may well be worth a watch again.

Nevertheless, pre-season is massive for the new boss in terms of implementing his alien ideals onto a group of players drilled in the art of counter-attacking and preserving slender advantages. It's a massive summer for Ange and here's what the club has planned ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

Where are Tottenham going for 2023/24 pre-season?

🇦🇺 See you this summer, Australia… 🆚 West Ham 📆 July 18 📍 Perth 🏟 Optus Stadium — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 23, 2023

Tottenham revealed back in March their Asia-Pacific pre-season tour would include a fixture against London rivals West Ham in Perth, Australia. Spurs fans got their first taste of 'Ange-ball' in a 3-2 defeat to the Europa Conference League winners.

Lapses at the back saw Danny Ings and Divin Mubama put the Hammers 2-0 up before Spurs came back to level things up in the second half as Giovani Lo Celso and Dennis Udogie netted within three minutes of each other. However, Gianluca Scamacca raced clear to put West Ham ahead again at 3-2 .

Postecoglou's homecoming was followed by the club's first-ever visit to Thailand where they were scheduled to face Leicester - James Maddison's former club - in Bangkok. However, it was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch and adverse weather conditions.

Spurs were due to take on Roma three days later in Singapore but there will be no reunion with former boss Jose Mourinho as the Italian side have pulled out. Lion City Sailors, currently third in the Singapore Premier League, have filled the void.

Spurs will then host Shakhtar Donetsk in north London in a match that will raise funds for the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine caused by Russia's aggression in war.

The summer friendly schedule will be wrapped up in Catalonia against Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy, due to be played at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

Read the latest Tottenham news here

Tottenham pre-season 2023/24 confirmed schedule.

All times BST.

Tottenham pre-season 2023/24 squad

Tottenham named a squad for their tour to Asia and Australia and left out club captain Hugo Lloris, who is exploring transfer opportunities in a bid to leave the club.

New signings Guglielmo Vicario, James Maddison and Manor Solomon make the cut, as does Bayern Munich target Harry Kane.

How to watch Tottenham pre-season 2023/24

SPURSPLAY, Tottenham's new home for club video content which launched last summer, will stream the side's pre-season fixtures. Fans can register their interest in that platform here .

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Cappuccino, papaya and people: What fuels Pope Francis on his historic 12-day Asia-Pacific tour

DILI/SINGAPORE - What powers 87-year-old Pope Francis through his historic 12-day Asia-Pacific tour, which has now entered its final leg? 

Top contenders include the papaya, a smooth cappuccino, cookies, nasi goreng and the humble egg. But the winners are the people who surround him – whether his close Vatican aides or the common folk, they energise him all the same.

On Sept 10, the eve of Pope Francis’ visit to Singapore, The Straits Times sat down with a Vatican-based insider on the tour, Father Markus Solo Kewuta, to find out how the pontiff has been managing his most gruelling journey yet, which is also the longest he has taken out of Vatican City.

There have been moments of worry, such as when the head of the Catholic Church, who has struggled with bronchitis, took some moments to clear his throat when making his first speech in Papua New Guinea, the second of four countries he was visiting.

At other times, the Pope, who also deals with knee pain, looked unstable on his feet – for instance, during the formal welcome ceremony in Dili, Timor-Leste, when he had to repeatedly stand and sit. 

But the Pope’s energy, said Father Markus, returns when he is surrounded by people, including the faithful who line the streets to catch a glimpse of him as he makes his way to scheduled events. 

Father Markus, the Pope’s interpreter during the Indonesia leg of the tour, was granted a front row seat with the leader and was nearly always by his side, including at the table for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

He described how the Pope chose to wind down the window in his Popemobile in his first stop in Jakarta, Indonesia – seemingly blind to security concerns.

“As a person who loves people, it doesn’t make sense if you close the window,” said Father Markus, a priest from Indonesia and an official at the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. “Separating himself from the people is not the aim for him when visiting these countries. He wants to be close to the people.” 

The Pope also empathises with the fact that some have come a long way to see him and often wait under the hot sun, he added.

Father Markus himself often watched with some trepidation, especially when people surged towards the car to touch, greet or get a blessing from the Pope.

“Oh my goodness. The car was trembling, moving. I said, ‘Holy Father, be careful, be careful!’” Father Markus said, recounting one incident. “But the windows are always open. He likes it. He enjoys being among people, meeting many people. He is always smiling.”

At the dining table

While meals with Pope Francis are over within 30 minutes, they are punctuated with laughter as he always has a joke to tell at the dining table, Father Markus said.

With him at the table are typically the head of protocol and his guards, personal assistants and interpreter. The Pope takes the same food as everyone, and when offered something special, such as Italian bread, he always shares. “He will ask me to bring it around to other people at the table,” Father Markus said.

It was at meals, over conversations in Italian, that he observed the Pope eating papaya and other tropical fruits every day, trying the local cuisine of the countries he was in, displaying a soft spot for cookies, and always starting his day with a cappuccino.

Father Markus recounted how on the first day, he had not realised that cappuccino was the Pope’s go-to coffee order, and took the first cup that arrived at the table. 

After realising that the Pope also wanted a cappuccino, he asked the pontiff to drink from his untouched cup. But the Pope insisted: “No, no, no, no. For you! For you!” This showed him the person that the Pope is as a leader, Father Markus said.

With a journey involving seven flights in 12 days, the Pope was often asked if he was tired, Father Markus said. The answer on one occasion: “You work, I didn’t work. I am not tired. You must be tired.”

Why Singapore?

After navigating three countries – Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste – Pope Francis touched down in Singapore on Sept 11.

The Argentinian, who has a reputation for being the “Pope of the peripheries”, has long prioritised fringe communities where Catholics are a minority, instead of European capitals, calling these more important than the centre of the institutional church. 

Asked why Singapore made it onto the programme, Father Markus said a country does not need to be undeveloped for it to be considered peripheral.

Given that there are only 395,000 Catholics in Singapore, which boasts a population of about 5.9 million, the Republic can be considered a “numerical periphery”, he said. 

This is the Pope playing the role of a “good shepherd, looking for the small and the lowest ones in order to collect them and lead them back to be together with others in the community,” he added.

Singaporeans face challenges that other countries he visited during his tour do not grapple with as much, Father Markus added. “The Pope knows well that prosperity brings all kinds of challenges to our faith. This is interesting for the Pope – living the Catholic faith amid globalisation and economic prosperity, addressing problems related to modernity,” he said.

The Pope is also very curious about Singapore as it, like Vatican City, is a city state, Father Markus said. “He has heard many times about Singapore (that) it is a very advanced country, with high inter-religious tolerance, and is interested to know what Singapore looks like.”

He noted that the Pope brings a mission of peace to the Asia-Pacific, and important themes of the visit include inter-religious peace and collaboration, and the promotion of harmony and reconciliation for people of different faiths.

“The Pope is surely interested to know why Singapore is so peaceful, and with him going around to promote peace and harmony, inspiring experiences like Singapore will help a lot,” said Father Markus. 

“He has learnt things from Indonesia – good and bad things as well – and now he would like to listen to Singaporeans about the ways of living together peacefully, harmoniously.”

Navigating a tense world together

Analysts agreed with this assessment. Mr Bryan Goh, a senior tutor with the department of history at the National University of Singapore, noted that the island state – with 29 parish churches, three devotional churches and close to 400,000 Catholics – should be regarded as an example of the success of implanting Catholicism within a plural worldview. 

Behind this is a Singapore identity that transcends race, given that Singapore, with its unique cultural blend of ethnic Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians, has been shaped as a plural society since its independence in 1965.

The PhD candidate studying the history of Catholicism in South-east Asia said: “How the Catholic religion flourished under a non-Catholic colonial power, and a secular government, amid the Malay-Muslim world in South-east Asia, itself speaks volumes.”

Mr Goh added that the Pope’s key message of inter-religious dialogue means it makes sense for him to stop in Singapore, which is famed for its inter-religiosity and religious tolerance.

Highlighting a 2014 Pew Research Center report that ranked Singapore as the world’s most religiously diverse country, Mr Goh said the location would be the “crowning jewel” in the Pope’s journey in his advocacy for inter-religious dialogue.

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin had said in an interview with Vatican News ahead of the tour that Singapore represents an example of peaceful coexistence in today’s multicultural and multi-religious society.

Dr Alan Chong, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said he understands that Singapore has been trying to get a papal visit to coincide with its International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS). The event aims to foster interfaith and multicultural dialogue, and was last held in 2022.

Singapore once had the Asia-Middle East Dialogue to foster dialogue and mutual understanding, and the ICCS is the later reincarnation of Singapore’s initiative for the world to break out of the mould of civilisational conflict, he added.

“A lot of people miss the significance of this. The Pope aligns completely with Singapore’s vision of fostering religious, interfaith and intercultural dialogue,” Dr Chong said, noting that this shared vision is not commonplace in “today’s very tense world”.

Anthropologist and theologian Michel Chambon, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Asia Research Institute, said Singapore is economically, politically and ethnically an important player in the region he is visiting.

“Pope Francis is not against the rich. He knows that we need dialogue and inclusion to address a number of international challenges,” he said. Examples include the ongoing civil war in Myanmar and Asean integration.

He also pointed out that Singapore and the Vatican have more things in common than not. Both are very small countries with highly globalised interests, invest in various forms of global diplomacy, and share a number of common interests to promote international stability, he said. This is why they perceive each other as valuable partners, he noted.

Dr Chambon added that the Pope may invite Singaporean Catholics to pay more attention to the Church’s “social doctrine”, which delves into building more inclusive and integrated societies. The pontiff could thus stress the importance of true reconciliation with one’s neighbours, he said.

If earlier speeches in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea are any indication, Pope Francis will not speak directly on contentious issues, he suggested. “Instead, he may demonstrate proximity and gentleness to let everybody decide where they want to stand,” he said.

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Asia tour squad confirmed

The travelling squad for our pre-season tour of Japan and Korea has been confirmed.

We play J League champions Vissel Kobe in Tokyo on Saturday (11am UK), K League All Stars in Seoul on Wednesday week (31 July, 12noon UK) and FC Bayern, also in Seoul, on Saturday 3 August (12noon UK).

All matches will be streamed live on SPURSPLAY – find out more and sign up here .

The following players will make the trip...

George Abbott Brandon Austin Lucas Bergvall Yves Bissouma Ben Davies Alfie Devine Jamie Donley Radu Dragusin (Korea only) Archie Gray Luca Gunter Tyrese Hall Brennan Johnson Dejan Kulusevski Will Lankshear James Maddison Mikey Moore Ashley Phillips Pedro Porro Richarlison Emerson Royal Pape Matar Sarr Dane Scarlett Oliver Skipp Manor Solomon Heung-Min Son Djed Spence Destiny Udogie Guglielmo Vicario Alejo Veliz Timo Werner Alfie Whiteman

Fraser Forster remains at Hotspur Way as he continues his rehabilitation from a fractured foot. Rodrigo Bentancur, Giovani Lo Celso, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven will rejoin the squad closer to the start of the season after representing their countries in the latter stages of the Copa America and Euro 2024.

Bryan Gil and Sergio Reguilon have been granted permission not to travel in order to explore prospective transfer opportunities.

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