Spain began their Nations League campaign with a 3-2 win over England at Wembley, the substitute Mikel Oyarzabal settling the contest with a dinked finish from an Álex Baena pass. It was a second-half turnaround for Thomas Tuchel’s side, who had led at the interval and then let the game slip away from them as Spain’s attacking substitutions took hold.
Lamine Yamal had given Spain the lead inside two minutes, and the goal was a personal disaster for Marc Guéhi. The defender was facing upfield attempting to build from deep, found his passing lanes blocked, checked back and walked straight into Yamal, who robbed him, went clean through and finished past James Trafford with apparent ease.
England’s response was driven by Jude Bellingham, and it produced a wild turnaround before half-time. Anthony Gordon levelled with a low, nerveless finish after Nico Williams lost his footing and the ball ran to Elliot Anderson; England swept forward, Gordon flicked to Bellingham, took it back and surged in on goal. Harry Kane then headed a Nico O’Reilly cross towards goal and Marc Cucurella, jutting out a thigh, turned the ball past his own goalkeeper to make it 2-1.
The match turned on the 54th minute. Kane, who had earlier struck inches wide from the edge of the area after a Bukayo Saka burst, stepped up from the spot after a review decided that Rodri’s challenge on the surging Bellingham constituted a penalty. Kane’s standing foot gave way in the turf and he hit the crossbar rather than making it 3-1, the ball bouncing out to safety.
Spain came again. Baena, on as a substitute, equalised after O’Reilly gave the ball away and Dani Olmo quickly shifted it to the edge of the area, Baena buying himself space with an expert drop of the shoulder. Saka curled just wide at the other end after more good work from Bellingham, but the tide had turned, and it was Oyarzabal — another replacement — who made the difference, finishing impudently to make it 3-2.
Spain had been fantastic for the opening 30 minutes and were the better side again once the penalty had gone begging. Their slickness was the biggest takeaway: this is a team that won the World Cup in the summer and the European Championship before that, and at times they played football from a different stratosphere. Ferran Torres had the ball in the net only to be pulled back for offside, and Trafford stood up to make a big one-on-one block against him after Yamal played the through-ball. Torres blew another one-on-one on 28 minutes, with Trafford making himself big, while Olmo rifled just wide after a sumptuous Yamal flick. Cucurella’s mishit cross on 45 minutes sailed over Trafford and came back off the far post.
There was no negativity from the Wembley crowd at full time, unlike previous high-profile defeats. England’s support can accept losing when the team plays with cut and thrust, and they can accept losing to Spain. Tuchel’s name was not read out when the teams were announced in the countdown to kick-off, after the starting XI and the 12 substitutes, but there were none of the dreaded boos at the final whistle as England try to move on from the heartbreak of their World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina.
Tuchel made a major deviation from his stated intention of continuity from the World Cup by starting Trafford ahead of Jordan Pickford. Pickford was erratic in the summer and was punished for some of his mistakes, while Trafford has been outstanding for Leeds since joining them over the summer. Tuchel’s idea is to share the minutes between the two goalkeepers during this window, and Trafford helped keep England in the game as Spain pushed for more.
Bellingham appeared particularly determined to leave his imprint, running with power and directness that Spain could not contain, and still throwing himself into the contest in stoppage time. England’s defending, by contrast, was dreadfully loose, and their backline was all over the place for long stretches. Ultimately, England did well to stay within a puncher’s chance of a result in this opener, but Spain’s remorseless desire, and the attack-minded changes made by Luis de la Fuente, proved too much.