Spain showcased why they are the best national team in the world by beating England 3-2 in an enthralling Nations League fixture at Wembley, in which the errors of the home team subdued their exciting attacking display.
It was the World Cup final that might have been had England not squandered their advantage against Argentina this summer – but Spain showed the gap in quality in a result which is a major blow to Thomas Tuchel’s stated aim of winning this competition.
Bad errors from Marc Guehi and Nico O’Reilly helped Lamine Yamal and Alex Baena score Spain’s first two and England were cut open through the match, including for Mikel Oyarzabal’s winner which came with 16 minutes to play.
But while England’s defence suffered, there was brilliant forward play, too.
Anthony Gordon had urged England to lean into their traditional strengths this week and they did just that with an exceptional counter-attack to make it 1-1, which saw the winger combine with Jude Bellingham before precisely applying the finish. Harry Kane’s header from O’Reilly’s cross made it 2-1 and capped an incredible transformation in the match.
In four minutes, Spain had conceded more goals than in their eight World Cup games combined.
There was then a pivotal moment, when England were awarded a penalty at the start of the second half, when Rodri was judged to have fouled Bellingham, following a VAR check. But Kane slipped and sent his spot-kick against the bar – and Spain capitalised.
Ferran Torres may have passed up two one-on-one chances in the first half, but Spain were clinical after the missed spot-kick to go top of Nations League Group A3.
With this result, Spain’s record-breaking unbeaten streak extended to 39 matches.
