Spain survives England scare

LONDON — World champion Spain came from behind to beat England 3-2 in an entertaining Nations League encounter at Wembley on Saturday, denying the host a cathartic win after its painful World Cup exit.

Victory for Luis de la Fuente's men extends Spain's astonishing unbeaten run to 39 matches — a record for a European team.

England got off to a nightmare start when Lamine Yamal pounced on a gaffe by defender Marc Guehi, and it could easily have been three goals down as silky Spain created multiple chances.

But England, criticized for its ultra-defensive tactics in its World Cup semifinal defeat to Argentina, showed adventure of its own and got its reward in the 36th minute when Barcelona winger Anthony Gordon finished a fine team move.

Four minutes later Thomas Tuchel's men were ahead, after captain Harry Kane headed home Nico O'Reilly's cross via a Marc Cucurella deflection.

Kane had a golden chance to give England a two-goal cushion from the penalty spot 10 minutes into the second half, but slipped slightly, crashing his shot against the bar.

Spain, who beat England in the Euro 2024 final, took full advantage, with substitutes Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal both scoring to turn the match around.

De la Fuente said he felt his team had largely been in control against "superpower" England, and he was confident it would have come back even from 3-1 down.

Asked about his side's long unbeaten run, he said: "These are sensational moments.... Numbers are one thing, objective indicators are what we see, but what is important is that we still want to grow, we still want to improve."

Kane bemoaned England's inability to sustain its best level for the whole game.

"I spoke before that we reached good levels at the World Cup, but didn't quite put a full 90 minutes together," he told ITV. "Probably similar again today."

Defeat means England has won just six of its last 16 matches against opponents ranked in FIFA's top 10.

"I was not in charge for these 16 matches. I think we did everything today to beat Spain," said Tuchel.

"Details matter at this kind of level. Like I said, the amount of clear-cut mistakes was too high on our side today, unfortunately. And, in the last 20 meters, they were more composed and more clinical to convert our ball-losses into clear-cut chances."

Tuchel was seeking a response to silence his critics after a series of defensive-minded substitutions saw England also surrender a lead to Argentina in the World Cup semifinals.

This time, there was no lack of ambition in a wildly open encounter, but Tuchel conceded that England is still not able to produce consistently for 90 minutes.

"We will keep on pushing this team," added Tuchel.

"We proved at the World Cup that we are capable of doing it in tournaments. Today, we cannot prove it in the result, but I think the way we played was enough to beat them."

Shaky start

Tuchel was adamant ahead of the match that it did not signal a new start, but he will have been dismayed at his team's nervy opening.

Manchester City's Guehi, with a chance to clear in the second minute, inexplicably turned back towards goalkeeper James Trafford, apparently unaware that Yamal was just behind him.

The teenager pinched the ball and curled a left-footed effort off the inside of the post.

Ferran Torres was in the thick of the action, with an effort ruled out for offside and another shot saved by Trafford, in for long-time No 1 Jordan Pickford.

He also squandered a golden opportunity with just the goalkeeper to beat.

Yamal then set up Dani Olmo, who flashed wide as Spain rued yet another miss.

England, who had showed plenty of promise down the wings, made the visitor pay with an incisive counterattacking goal after winning the ball back deep in its own half.

Gordon was involved early in the move and surged forward, collecting Jude Bellingham's pass to steer the ball decisively past goalkeeper Unai Simon.

And, with the atmosphere totally changed, England put itself in front, with Kane heading home a second.

Tuchel's men started the second half brightly and had a chance to extend their lead from the spot when they were awarded a penalty following a VAR check for a Rodri foul on Bellingham.

But Kane hit the bar, and England paid the price when Baena steered the ball home on the hour mark after O'Reilly had given the ball away to Olmo.

Worse was to come for the home side, when Baena turned provider for Oyarzabal, who dinked the ball over Trafford.

Spain hosts Croatia in its next Nations League Group A3 match on Tuesday, while England travels to the Czech Republic.