Having just finished watching England’s first Nations League match against Spain, of course the result is disappointing. Losing 3-2 at Wembley is never something to celebrate. But in the broadest sense, I am pleased with what I saw from England.
More importantly, they did not repeat the mistakes that cost them against Argentina in the World Cup semi-final. I didn’t expect them to, either. In fact, I had a feeling England would come out against Spain and play well, play positively and, perhaps most importantly, play free. At times, particularly early, they may have played a little too free.
England were nearly punished immediately. Just two minutes into the match, Marc Guéhi made an awful mistake and Lamine Yamal did exactly what a player of his quality is supposed to do, taking advantage and putting Spain ahead. England were fortunate that it remained only 1-0 for as long as it did. Had Ferran Torres worn his striking boots, as the English like to say, Spain could very easily have been two or even three goals ahead early. Yamal also had opportunities that he would undoubtedly like back. Spain repeatedly found ways to get behind England’s defence, creating a number of one-on-one, or close to one-on-one, situations.
Those defensive lapses are concerning, and they will need to be addressed. But this was also a wild, open and thoroughly entertaining football match. It lacked the intensity of a true cup tie, which is worth remembering when evaluating both teams, but in the broadest sense I actually thought England looked the stronger side over the course of the match. Spain were unquestionably dangerous and, when it mattered, clinical in attack. But England threatened Spain to a degree that nobody managed during the World Cup we just watched.
One of the things I liked about the final four of this World Cup was that all four teams, to varying degrees, looked capable of beating one another on any given day. There was no invincible team standing above everybody else. Argentina could beat England, England could beat Argentina, Spain could beat either of them, and either could beat Spain. That is why I never bought the argument after the Argentina defeat that, essentially, “Well, England wouldn’t have had a chance against Spain anyway.”
First of all, that completely misses the point of my criticism of Tuchel against Argentina. But it also sells this England team short, and this match demonstrated exactly why. England gave the world champions problems that they rarely encountered during their World Cup run. They went behind, recovered, took the lead and eventually had a penalty to go 3-1 ahead. Spain ultimately won the match and deserve credit for taking advantage of England’s mistakes, but there was nothing about this encounter that suggested England should regard Spain—or anybody else—as an opponent they simply cannot beat.
As the first half progressed, England increasingly began to impose themselves on the world champions. Jude Bellingham started taking control, and England’s equaliser was an outstanding piece of attacking football. Bellingham combined beautifully with Anthony Gordon, who finished the move superbly to make it 1-1. Gordon continues to emerge as one of the most exciting young faces of this England team, fresh off an exciting campaign with Barcelona. His confidence, directness and willingness to attack defenders give England another dimension, and his performance against Spain was another reminder of how significant a player he can become for this national side.
Then came Harry Kane. Nico O’Reilly delivered the ball into the area and Kane attacked it, with his header taking a fortuitous bounce off Marc Cucurella that froze Unai Simón and found its way into the net. In the space of four minutes, England had completely turned the match around and went into half-time ahead 2-1.
This is where the comparison with Argentina becomes impossible to ignore. My criticism of Thomas Tuchel after the World Cup semi-final was never simply that England lost a football match. Teams lose football matches. Great teams lose football matches. Sometimes the opposition produces something special, sometimes a player makes a mistake and sometimes the ball simply does not bounce your way. My criticism was about how England responded to having the lead.
Against Argentina, England retreated. Tuchel chose preservation over pressure. England increasingly surrendered the initiative, eventually dropping into what amounted to survival football. Had England continued pressing Argentina, continued attacking them and ultimately lost 2-1, there would never have been the same condemnation from me of Tuchel’s tactics or approach.
Against Spain, England did something different. They kept playing, kept attacking and kept trying to impose themselves. Importantly, they did it from the lead. Playing with freedom when you are chasing a game is one thing. Continuing to play with that freedom once you have taken the lead is another, although tactically it really shouldn’t be.
England continued pressing after half-time and earned a penalty when Rodri was adjudged, following a VAR review, to have fouled Bellingham. Kane stepped forward with the opportunity to make it 3-1, slipped, and crashed the ball against the crossbar. That moment will inevitably become one of the defining images of this match because of what happened afterward.
Spain took full advantage, first equalising through Álex Baena and then producing the sort of beautiful, textbook Spanish combination that has defined so many of their best teams, with Baena releasing Mikel Oyarzabal for the eventual winner. England should have been 3-1 ahead. They weren’t, and Spain punished them. That does not erase what England demonstrated.
Kane has now had a few painful penalty moments in an England shirt. He has also taken quite a large number of penalties throughout his career and converted an enormous number of important ones. One thing I have never liked doing is criticising a player who steps up to take a penalty and strikes the ball honestly and with conviction, which is really all you can ask a player to do. Everyone misses a penalty eventually.
Kane did that here. He stepped up with optimism and conviction, slipped, and hit the crossbar. It is unfortunate, and this certainly joins the list of painful penalty misses he has had for England. Given the eventual scoreline, it will inevitably receive attention, but I certainly see no reason for any great hand-wringing over it. These things happen.
It also brings me back to one of the arguments made by some of Tuchel’s apologists following the Argentina defeat: that England probably would have lost to Spain in the World Cup final anyway. I thought that was an absurd concession then, and this match only reinforces my view. England are capable of beating Spain, they are capable of beating Argentina, and they are capable of beating any international team in the world.
That does not mean they will beat them every time. Of course they won’t. Spain are world champions for a reason. They are an exceptional football team, and when England gave them opportunities, they punished them. But England were not out of place on the same field. In fact, pound for pound, I thought England looked the stronger team for significant stretches of this match.
They went behind, fought back, took the lead and had a penalty to establish a two-goal advantage. They created chances, attacked, pressed and demonstrated that they could hurt Spain. Crucially, when England found themselves ahead, they did not immediately decide that the objective of the match had changed from playing football to surviving it. That is progress.
There are certainly things Tuchel must fix. England’s defensive lapses were far too frequent. Spain created far too many situations in which England defenders were isolated, and against attackers of this quality, that is eventually going to cost you. But those are tactical and technical problems that can be addressed. The mentality England displayed against Spain is something I would much rather build upon.
It is also worth keeping the Nations League itself in perspective. I enjoy the competition. It is certainly more meaningful than a conventional international friendly, but it is not the World Cup or European Championship. In my mind, its significance sits somewhere between an exhibition and a major international tournament. There is certainly a degree to which these matches are both competition and tryout, particularly at the beginning of a new cycle when coaches are evaluating players, combinations and tactical ideas.
This was also only the opening game of the group stage, in a competition where England and Spain will play one another twice. Depending upon how the group develops and how the eventual bracket falls, this result may ultimately have very little effect on England’s tournament. The goal is not to beat Spain in a Nations League group-stage match in September. The goal is to develop a team capable of winning a major international tournament.
That is the prism through which this match should be viewed. If England ultimately win a World Cup or European Championship playing brave, aggressive football, nobody is going to care very much that Spain beat them 3-2 at Wembley in September 2026. What matters is whether England are learning the lessons necessary to win when the match really does decide everything.
There can even be value in beginning a tournament with a frustrating result like this. Argentina provided perhaps the ultimate example at the 2022 World Cup. They began the tournament with a colossal upset against Saudi Arabia, a result that effectively turned every subsequent match into something approaching a must-win game. They responded to that pressure and ultimately won the World Cup. England are obviously in a very different competition and situation here, but the broader principle remains: an early setback can focus a team, expose weaknesses and provide lessons without ending its ambitions.
That is why, despite the result, I leave this game encouraged. Bellingham continues to emerge as the leader of this England team. Gordon continues to establish himself as a major contributor. Against the reigning world champions, England showed that they can play with anybody, and Spain were certainly fortunate to escape Wembley with the victory.
England should leave feeling that they let one get away. There were defensive mistakes that Tuchel will have plenty of opportunity to examine, and Kane will certainly wish he could have that penalty again. But unlike the Argentina match, I do not leave this one wondering why England stopped trying to win. They continued to attack, continued to press and continued trying to impose themselves. They made mistakes, and an outstanding Spanish team punished those mistakes. On another afternoon, England might very well have come away with the victory.
As I wrote following the World Cup, my criticism was never based simply upon England losing. It was based upon the manner in which they approached the decisive stages of that match against Argentina. There is consistency in being critical of that performance while viewing this one, despite another defeat, much more positively. England played in a manner much closer to how I believe this team must play if it is ultimately going to win a major tournament.
England will get another opportunity against Spain soon enough. The return fixture comes on Sunday, November 15, when England travel to Madrid to face the world champions at the Metropolitano Stadium in the final match of the Nations League group stage. We will have another crack at them there.
In the meantime, there are plenty of positives to build upon. This was an uneven performance, certainly an imperfect one, and ultimately an unfortunate defeat. But evaluated in terms of where England need to go rather than simply what appeared on the scoreboard this afternoon, I view it as a largely positive step toward that goal.
Come on, guys… do you really want to extend England’s trophy drought even further? 😅 It’s already been more than 66 years of waiting for another major title.
https://trophydrought.com/countries/england/