England were left ruing a rare Harry Kane penalty miss as they came out on the wrong end of a five-goal thriller against Spain. Thomas Tuchel's side lost 3-2 at Wembley in their first game since the World Cup.
Spain strike early, England fight back
Lamine Yamal put Spain ahead inside two minutes, punishing Marc Guehi's mistake. But England hit back with two goals before half-time courtesy of Anthony Gordon and Kane.
Early in the second half, Kane was given the chance to put the Three Lions two goals to the good but missed his penalty. Alex Baena equalised six minutes later before the world champions won it through Mikel Oyarzabal and claimed all three points in this Nations League clash.
Trafford starts, but not for long
One major surprise on the team sheet: James Trafford started in goal ahead of Jordan Pickford. The Leeds shot-stopper has had an excellent start to the season and was handed his first competitive cap by Thomas Tuchel.
And the England manager confirmed before kick-off that Trafford will keep his place for Tuesday's game away to Czechia before Pickford returns for the Three Lions' final two fixtures during this extended international break. It's set to be a battle for the gloves with an eye on Euro 2028.
Guehi's gift for Yamal
Marc Guehi turned on the ball 25 yards from goal and had his pocket picked by Lamine Yamal, who cooly finished past Trafford with two minutes on the clock. It was an uncharacteristic error from one of England's most reliable players and gave the Three Lions an even greater task against the world champions.
The English DNA on show
Anthony Gordon said this week that England should stop trying to play like Spain because it's not in their DNA. For starters, counter attacks. A slip from Nico Williams allowed England to break away from the edge of their own box, as Gordon and Jude Bellingham combined to equalise.
It started with Gordon's backheel to Bellingham, allowing the Real Madrid midfielder to drive forward down the centre of the pitch. His pass was perfectly weighted for Gordon, who had pace to burn and ice in his veins to slot the ball past Unai Simon.
Secondly in the DNA test, you'd find headed goals. England had their tails up after Gordon's goal and shortly after firing a shot narrowly wide, Harry Kane nodded in Nico O'Reilly's cross courtesy of a deflection from Marc Cucurella.
Their captain's goal gave England the lead at half-time. Spain must've been kicking themselves, having missed a series of chances through Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo.
Kane pays the penalty
His miss against France in Qatar may still be burned into England fans' memories, but Kane not scoring from the penalty spot is still a rare sight in football. But we saw it again when, following a VAR check, Rodri was deemed to have brought down Bellingham before the hour mark.
Kane stepped up and went high, rattling Simon's crossbar. It turned out that the Bayern Munich striker had touched the ball with his standing foot, potentially explaining why his effort crashed the bar to keep the game wide open.
It didn't take long for Kane to be punished. When a stray pass from O'Reilly was pounced on by Olmo, the ball made its way to Alex Baena on the edge of England's penalty area, and the substitute produced a superb finish to level the scores in the 60th minute.
Oyarzabal's hot streak continues
No goals in eight games for Real Sociedad this season but 18 in his last 20 for Spain. Mikel Oyarzabal loves scoring for his country.
Left out of the starting XI in favour of Ferran, Oyarzabal reminded Luis de la Fuente of how clinical he is with another crucial strike - just like his one against England in the Euro 2024 final. England were cut open by Aymeric Laporte as the ball was fizzed into Baena, who showed brilliant composure to turn and thread his team-mate in on goal.
The Three Lions' defence was scrambled and Oyarzabal dinked the ball over Trafford to restore Spain's lead. England rallied for an equaliser but burnout had set in, as they started their Nations League campaign with a defeat.
