Paris-born Mateta had impressed in the Bundesliga for Mainz with 10 goals in 17 appearances across all competitions in 20/21. He moved to south London as the German side's top scorer.
He began his professional career in the French third-tier, before making a major move to seven-times champions Lyon. After excelling on loan with Le Havre, Mateta moved to Mainz, where he established himself as a regular in the German top-flight, scoring 27 goals in 71 games in total, including a hat-trick against SC Freiburg during this campaign.
On the international stage, Mateta was part of the France side that reached the last four of the Under-21 European Championships in 2019, scoring the opening goal in the semi-final.
Mateta was born in the Sevran suburb of Paris, the youngest of seven children. He began playing for a club out of town from the age of 14, spending hours travelling from home each day to make training.
Unlike many young French players, Mateta’s formative years were not spent in the development centre of a major club; instead, he did it the hard way.
After impressing in a trial with then third-division side Châteauroux, he left home for good aged 17 and embarked on the journey to professional football.
Having impressed at Châteauroux with 16 goals in 27 first-team appearances, Mateta secured a big move to title challengers Lyon.
However, his first-team minutes were limited in a frustrating season, with three appearances to his name. When the chance of a loan move and first-team football came knocking, he took it.
Signing for second division Le Havre, Mateta scored 17 league goals to power his new side towards promotion. In the play-off semi-finals, he scored twice in a 2-2 draw before they were knocked out via penalty shoot-out.
It was at Le Havre that Mateta was able to showcase his eye for goals. “You’re born a striker,” he said. “You are born and greedy for goals. Even as a little boy, I wanted to score, save my team, score the winning goal in close matches and be the one whose name is roared by the fans.”
Attracting attention in Germany, Mateta moved to Mainz for a club-record fee, and found himself back at the top level of European football. Having grown up playing on the streets of Paris, he didn’t let the higher intensity scupper his development:
“If you have learned to play football on the street, you automatically become a fighter,” he told German media.
“Wherever I ended up in my career, there were almost always guys who I thought: ‘They have more comprehensive football training, they are more technically complete, they can do this and that better than me.’ But the point always came when I said to myself: ‘I’m going to destroy it all the more.’
“I was more hungry.”
Having settled in south London, Mateta earned the favour of Palace fans with his first ever goal - a backheel flick - coming in a 1-2 victory away at Brighton. He also netted against local rivals Millwall, knocking the Lions out of the FA Cup in 2021/22.
These efforts saw his loan-move turn into a four-and-a-half-year permanent deal on deadline day in January 2022.
Upon Roy Hodgson's return, Mateta netted a dramatic stoppage-time winner against Leicester City to spark one of the great Selhurst Park celebrations in April 2023. He finished 2022/23 with two goals in 32 games across all competitions.
The start of the 2023/24 season saw the Frenchman pick up minutes off the bench, though he did score a hat-trick against Plymouth Argyle in the EFL Cup. He really got into his stride in December 2023, scoring in back-to-back games against title-chasing Liverpool and Manchester City.
With the arrival of new manager Oliver Glasner in February 2024, Mateta became the focal-point of his attacks and his form saw a rapid uptick. He scored 13 goals in the 13 Premier League games that remained, including back-to-back braces against West Ham and Newcastle.
He signed off 23/24 in some style, netting a hat-trick in a resounding 5-0 thumping of Aston Villa on the final day of the season. This was Palace's first hat-trick since Yannick Bolasie's triple against Sunderland almost a decade ago. His stats for the season saw him average almost a goal every other game, with 19 in 39 appearances across all competitions.
The striker's performances saw him rewarded with a call-up to Thierry Henry's France squad for the 2024 Olympic Games, which were hosted in Mateta's hometown of Paris.
He made his 100th appearance in red and blue as a substitute against Liverpool in October 2024. In February 2025, Mateta equalled Christian Benteke's tally of 35 goals in the Premier League and promptly surpassed him to become the second-highest Premier League goalscorer for the club.
Mateta continued his strong form as the season concluded, netting 17 goals in 46 games across all competitions. He also helped the side write history by winning the FA Cup - playing in every round and starting in the final against Manchester City.
The 6’4’’ striker etched his name further into Palace history throughout 2025/26, delivering decisive moments across every stage of the campaign.
He scored his first goal of the season at Wembley when he opened the scoring in the Community Shield against Liverpool, before holding his nerve again in the shootout as Palace lifted the trophy. He then wrote his name into the record books by scoring Palace’s first-ever goal in European competition in the UEFA Conference League play-off victory over Fredrikstad a few weeks later.
After that, Mateta brought up yet another milestone with the club’s 700th Premier League goal in a 3-1 win over West Ham United in September.
His season also featured one of Selhurst Park’s great goal-laden afternoons, as he struck a hat-trick in a 3–3 draw with Bournemouth – becoming the first Palace player to score two Premier League hat-tricks.
In May 2026, he delivered his most significant contribution yet however, scoring the decisive goal in the UEFA Conference League Final win over Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig. He finished the campaign with an impressive 16 goals, including 12 in the Premier League, also marking his 200th Palace appearance in a 2–2 draw at Brentford.
On the international stage, Mateta’s form was rewarded with a first senior call-up for France in October 2025. He made his debut in a 3–0 win over Azerbaijan, scored his first international goal against Iceland shortly after, and was later named in France’s squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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