England’s first steps on the road back from World Cup semi-final disappointment ended in a 3-2 Nations League defeat by Spain at Wembley, a night that laid bare the difference between chaos and control at the highest level.
It was Thomas Tuchel’s first match in charge since Argentina ended England’s World Cup run, and the head coach had spoken beforehand about his side needing to “embrace the chaos”. Against the reigning world and European champions, they did exactly that — and they still came up short against a Spain team now unbeaten in 39 games.
The evening began badly. Marc Guehi’s inexplicable turn into trouble inside two minutes gifted Lamine Yamal the opening goal, and it was a mystery to everyone inside Wembley how England reached the 36th minute only one goal down. Ferran Torres had a goal ruled out for offside, was denied by a fine save from England goalkeeper James Trafford, and then rolled an effort wide of the post when clean through.
England took full advantage of those reprieves. Anthony Gordon, their star performer, produced a composed finish, and Harry Kane headed in a deflected effort to send Tuchel’s side in ahead at the break despite having been thoroughly outplayed.
The game turned just after the interval. Kane missed a penalty, slipping as he struck the ball, touching it twice and hitting the bar. England then paid the price for further errors: Nico O’Reilly coughed up possession in the build-up to Alex Baena’s equaliser, before another substitute, Mikel Oyarzabal — who scored the winner in the Euro 2024 final against England in Berlin — settled matters after 74 minutes. As against Argentina, England had led through a Gordon goal and lost.
It was a bad night for the defensive unit. Guehi and O’Reilly were both culpable, and Jarell Quansah, given the nod at right-back ahead of the recalled Trent Alexander-Arnold, looked uncertain throughout and did not appear a natural fit for the role. England have now shipped 13 goals in their last six matches in all competitions, having conceded only seven in their first 17 games under Tuchel. Trafford, handed two games before first-choice goalkeeper Jordan Pickford returns, was blameless and will have made a good impression.
Tuchel, though, disputed the idea that chaos had been the problem. He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’m not sure there was a lot of chaos. We had an incredible amount of high-ball recoveries in the opponent’s half. I think 15 more than Spain. Overall, I think 15 in total in the first half. That only goes against a team like Spain if we play man to man, so we were very brave.” He added that the defending and the deep block were “excellent” apart from the third goal, and that offensively his side played in a clear structure. On the gap between the teams, he said: “We saw no gap except for the technical execution. In the last 20 metres, they were superior than us.”
That assessment is a generous one. Spain’s own technical execution was such that they could easily have been four goals up before England even scored, and their smooth, unhurried style cut a sharp contrast to England’s often frantic efforts. Tuchel was on firmer ground in noting the improvement once Gordon had drawn his side level, a spell that offered the prospect of a landmark victory. England have not won a major men’s tournament since the 1966 World Cup, and chaos alone has never claimed big prizes.
Ironically, England’s standout performers were two players now plying their trade in Spain: Gordon, in electrifying form for Barcelona, and Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid, relentless in driving his side forward even in a losing cause. Captain Kane, meanwhile, was left to reflect on what might have been. “I spoke before that we reached good levels at the World Cup but didn’t quite put a full 90 minutes together. It was probably similar again here,” he said. “We had a couple of good moments though, that period was as good as we’ve played in a long, long time and that’s the standard we know we can reach. We’re playing against the world champions, the European champions, and we went toe-to-toe. On another day for sure we’d have won that game.”