Jean-Philippe Mateta

Jean-Philippe Mateta (; born 28 June 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Crystal Palace.

Mateta began his career with Châteauroux before signing for Ligue 1 side Lyon in 2016. Following a successful loan to second-division side Le Havre, he signed for Bundesliga club Mainz 05 in 2018, before joining Crystal Palace in 2021, where he won the FA Cup in 2025.

Mateta represented France internationally at under-19 and under-21 youth levels, and later featured in their Olympic team in Paris 2024, finishing as third-highest scorer of the tournament and winning a silver medal.

Early life

Mateta was born in Sevran, Seine-Saint-Denis, to a Congolese father and a French mother. His father is a former professional footballer who played in Congo and in Liège, Belgium.

Club career

Lyon

In September 2016, Mateta signed for Ligue 1 side Lyon from Châteauroux on a five-year contract for a fee of €2 million with a further €3 million possible in bonuses. His former club also retained a 20% sell-on clause on the player. Mateta made his debut for the Ligue 1 side on 21 September 2016 against Montpellier, replacing Maxwel Cornet after 76 minutes in a 5–1 home win. He played his next match four months later in the Coupe de France, again coming on for Cornet against Montpellier, in the 76th minute of a 5–0 home win. He made his first Ligue 1 start against AS Monaco on 23 April 2017. He played 65 minutes, before being replaced by Mathieu Valbuena in a 2–1 home loss.

Le Havre (loan)

In July 2017, he joined Ligue 2 side Le Havre on a season-long loan. Mateta scored 19 goals in 37 Ligue 2 matches across the 2017–18 season.

Mainz 05

On 29 June 2018, Mateta joined Bundesliga club 1. FSV Mainz 05 on a four-year deal. His arrival was the most expensive signing in club history. Upon signing with the club, the player was compared favorably to former Mainz strikers Aristide Bancé and Adam Szalai as well as former 1. FC Köln and 1899 Hoffenheim player Anthony Modeste.

On 5 April 2019, Mateta scored his first senior hat-trick in a 5–0 league victory over SC Freiburg.

Crystal Palace

2021–2023: Initial seasons

On 21 January 2021, Mateta signed for English club Crystal Palace on an initial eighteen-month loan deal. Crystal Palace reportedly paid a €3 million loan fee and secured an option to sign Mateta permanently for a further €15 million. He made his debut on 8 February in a 2–0 away league defeat by Leeds United. On 22 February 2021, Mateta scored his first goal for Palace, a backheel flick, in a 2–1 away league win over rivals Brighton & Hove Albion. The deal was made permanent on 31 January 2022.

During the 2022–23 season, Mateta was restricted to just six starts in the league, with Odsonne Édouard preferred as Crystal Palace's starting striker. On 1 April 2023, Mateta came off the bench scored a last-minute winner against Leicester City, ensuring Palace ended their thirteen-match Premier League winless run on Roy Hodgson's return to the club, and ended a personal run of 28 appearances without a goal.

2023–24 season: Crystal Palace Player of the Year

Mateta opened his account for the 2023–24 season on 29 August, scoring his first hat-trick for Crystal Palace against Plymouth Argyle in the second round of the 2023–24 EFL Cup, resulting in a 4–2 victory. After scoring in back-to-back games against Manchester City and Liverpool in December 2023, Mateta was restored to the starting line-up following the appointment of manager Oliver Glasner in February 2024. He scored four times in Glasner's first six matches in charge, taking his tally for the season into double digits, making it his highest-scoring season at Crystal Palace.

In April 2024, he scored back-to-back braces in wins against West Ham United and Newcastle United; he was later nominated for Premier League Player of the Month for the first time in his career. On 6 May, he scored in a 4–0 win over Manchester United, becoming the first Premier League player to score in each of a manager's first six home games for a club since Alan Shearer for Kevin Keegan in 1997, as well as Crystal Palace's first ever player to score in six consecutive top-flight home games, breaking Mark Bright's record of five. The next day, Mateta was named the club's Player of the Year, becoming the first French recipient of the award. On 19 May, Mateta scored his first Premier League hat-trick for the club, and the club's second ever Premier League hat-trick and first in nine years, in a 5–0 victory over Aston Villa, helping secure a top half of the table finish. Additionally, he finished the season as his club's top scorer with 16 goals, achieving a new personal best in the Premier League.

2024–25 season: FA Cup title

Mateta's first goals of the 2024–25 season came in a 4–0 win over Norwich City in the second round of the EFL Cup on 27 August 2024. He assisted Daichi Kamada's opening goal in the second minute, before scoring twice in the second half. On 14 September, he registered his first goals of the Premier League season in a 2–2 draw with Leicester City.

On 27 October, Mateta scored the only goal of a 1–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, giving Palace their first league win of the season. On 3 December, he repeated this feat by scoring the decisive goal of a 1–0 win at Ipswich Town, Palace's second win of the Premier League season.

After registering only four league goals in the first half of the season, Mateta scored eight goals in the first eight fixtures of 2025. This run started with an 82nd-minute equaliser in a 1–1 draw at home to Chelsea and included braces against West Ham United and Manchester United in consecutive 2–0 away wins. On 25 February, he scored his 36th Premier League goal for Crystal Palace in a 4–1 win over Aston Villa, making him the club's all-time second-top scorer in the competition.

On 1 March 2025, Mateta was hospitalized after being kicked in the side of the head by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts, as he challenged for the ball outside the box in the FA Cup, an incident for which Roberts received a red card. Roberts was later given a six game ban, which had been extended from an initial three game ban. Whilst Mateta was being treated on the pitch for a number of minutes and administered oxygen, some Millwall supporters chanted "let him die". The injury sustained during the game, resulted with him requiring 25 stitches for a laceration behind his ear and a concussion observation. Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish, accused Roberts of endangering the life of a "fellow professional" and manager Oliver Glasner claimed the foul "could have been the end of JP's career". Millwall manager Alex Neil insisted Roberts had not intended to hurt Mateta and wished him the best in his recovery. Mateta discussed the injury in an interview later that month with ''L'Équipe'', saying that he had the instinct to turn his head at the last moment, saving himself from a more serious injury, but that his "ear didn't look like an ear anymore"; and that a plastic surgeon had taken pictures of his ear, but refused to show them to him due to the grisly nature of the injury, but that the surgeon managed to save his ear. Mateta said that while he would be able to begin training, he would need to wear a mask to protect his ear and, so as to help prevent infection, wash it every time he sweated. He also said that Roberts had apologized to him by text for causing the injury and that the French striker had told him not to worry and that the injury was "not that serious".

On 17 May 2025, Mateta won the FA Cup as Crystal Palace beat Manchester City 1–0 in the 2025 FA Cup final for Crystal Palace's first major trophy; Mateta linked up with Daichi Kamada and Daniel Muñoz to set up Eberechi Eze's winning goal in the 16th minute of the game.

International career

On 3 June 2024, Mateta was named in manager Thierry Henry's provisional France squad ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris. Selected in the final squad as one of the three overage players, he scored the only goal in the quarter-final game against Argentina to send France to the next stage.
During the semi-final against Egypt, he scored two goals as France won 3–1. He scored a 93rd-minute equaliser in the final against Spain to take the match to extra-time, though Spain won 5–3.

Career statistics

Honours

Crystal Palace
*FA Cup: 2024–25

France Olympic
*Summer Olympics silver medal: 2024

Individual
*Crystal Palace Player of the Season: 2023–24

Orders
*Knight of the National Order of Merit: 2024

References

External links

Profile
at the Crystal Palace F.C. website
*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mateta, Jean-Philippe
1997 births
Living people
Footballers from Seine-Saint-Denis
French men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
LB Châteauroux players
Olympique Lyonnais players
Le Havre AC players
1. FSV Mainz 05 players
Crystal Palace F.C. players
Ligue 1 players
Ligue 2 players
Championnat National players
Bundesliga players
Premier League players
France men's youth international footballers
France men's under-21 international footballers
Olympic footballers for France
Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists in football
Olympic silver medalists for France
Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics
French expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite
Black French sportspeople
French sportspeople of Republic of the Congo descent
21st-century French sportsmen