England‘s Uefa Nations League campaign got off to a losing start as they were beaten 3-2 by world champions Spain at Wembley on Saturday.
In the first international match since the sides finished third and first, respectively, at the World Cup in the summer, Lamine Yamal opened the scoring after just two minutes following a dreadful Marc Guehi mistake.
England responded well, riding out some Spanish pressure before hitting them twice on the break in the space of four minutes, taking the lead through goals from Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane.
Thomas Tuchel’s men took control of the game from there and passed up numerous opportunities to extend their lead, including Kane rattling the crossbar from the penalty spot. La Roja punished them on the hour mark as Alex Baena found the net following another England mistake, this time from Nico O’Reilly.
Spain carved through the Three Lions defence to give Mikel Oyarzabal an easy finish in the 74th minute. From there, the two-time and defending world champions saw out the game in typical fashion, passing the ball around England with incredible poise and composure.
Man City mistakes cost Three Lions
To say it’s been a rough couple of days for those associated with Manchester City would be a huge understatement. The 10-time English champions face the prospect of huge points deductions, lost titles and other punishments after being found guilty of 114 breaches of financial conduct.
Saturday’s star-studded international fixture at Wembley could have offered an opportunity for England’s Man City contingent to escape from the headlines. Instead, it only served to rub salt into the wound.
It was Guehi who was at fault for Spain’s first goal, taking far too long on the ball and turning straight into the onrushing Yamal, who is the last player you’d want to gift a run at goal right now.
O’Reilly was the man who made the mistake on Spain’s second, struggling to hold on to possession under pressure before slicing his attempted pass to Guehi.
Those two incidents also came either side of an errant pass from Elliot Anderson in the 27th minute, giving Ferran Torres a free run at goal, only for the World Cup final goalscorer to pull his shot wide of the far post.
Even on the third goal, Guehi and O’Reilly could be accused of being out of position to allow Oyarzabal a far easier finish than he’d have otherwise enjoyed.
It wasn’t just the Man City players committing errors, of course. There were a few nervous moments on the ball from Leeds goalkeeper James Trafford, who was a surprise inclusion ahead of Jordan Pickford. Ezri Konsa also suffered several nervous moments, while Kane missed a penalty to put England 3-1 up.
However, it was the Cityzens who made the most costly mistakes on the night for their country, leaving them with plenty to chew over on both sides of the whitewash as they prepare for a midweek trip to Prague.
England find attacking blueprint
For all their mistakes, England produced large spells of the most complete football we’ve seen from them under Tuchel.
The Three Lions steadied the ship just after Anderson’s aforementioned 27th-minute mistake, and the period between then and Spain’s equaliser on the hour was one in which they could have put themselves out of sight of the world champions.
The big change was England giving up on trying to ‘out-football’ the best technical side in international football. Too many times, the hosts had passed themselves into blind alleys amid a relentless and meticulously coordinated Spanish press, giving the ball up in dangerous positions and proving to be the architects of their own downfall.
Instead, the Three Lions opted to soak up pressure and hit Spain with lightning counter-attacks, while ensuring the action stayed in higher positions where they could force turnovers in dangerous areas.
It was this style that yielded England’s two goals. It gave them the penalty that should have sealed the result. It offered up several other high-value opportunities.
In the end, England beat themselves. But for a large chunk of this match, they outclassed the world champions in a fixture many had dubbed the ‘people’s World Cup final’.
England will be expected to dominate against the Czech Republic on Tuesday, but this is surely the blueprint for Tuchel against elite nations moving forward.
Spain’s unbeaten run goes on
It seems like an age since the Royal Spanish Football Federation hired Luis de la Fuente to replace Luis Enrique as national team manager following La Roja’s round-of-16 exit at the 2022 World Cup. What a decision that has turned out to be.
Since then, Spain have swept away everything before them, lifting Nations League, European Championship and, most recently, World Cup titles.
It’s incredible to think that De la Fuente has lost just two of his 50 matches in charge in normal time. It’s even more remarkable when you remember that those defeats came in game two vs Scotland and game 11 vs Colombia — the former in Euros qualifying as their only competitive defeat under this manager.
Since that defeat to Colombia in March 2024, Spain have played 39 matches and lost none. They’ve reached two Nations League finals and won one, only losing the other on penalties. They’ve won the Euros. They’ve won the World Cup.
Longest unbeaten runs in international football history
1st) Spain – 39 matches (ongoing since 2024)
2nd) Italy – 37 matches (2018-21)
3rd) Argentina – 36 matches (2019-22)
4th) Brazil – 35 matches (1993-96)
4th) Spain – 35 matches (2007-09)
6th) Senegal – 33 matches (2023-25)
6th) Morocco – 33 matches (2025-26)
8th) Argentina – 31 Matches (1991-93)
8th) Spain – 31 matches (1994-98)
8th) Morocco – 31 matches (2019-22)
La Roja have now beaten England twice during that run, as well as the likes of Argentina, France, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Even when they were utterly on the back foot, there was something inevitable about Spain at Wembley on Saturday. A part of you always knew they’d find their way back into the match.
Their World Cup final win against Argentina set the record for the longest unbeaten run in international football history. This comeback win against the side that finished third at that tournament over the summer was a reminder of just how far ahead of the pack they really are.
If going to Wembley was the toughest fixture of this Nations League group for Spain, when will this unbeaten run come to an end?