Spain rallies to beat England 2-3 at Wembley in Nations League opener

Early lead and missed chances

Spain started its UEFA Nations League Group 3 campaign at Wembley Stadium with an immediate goal inside the opening 120 seconds. English defender Marc Guehi hesitated in possession under pressure from Lamine Yamal, allowing the forward to steal the ball and curl a left-footed strike off the post past goalkeeper James Trafford. Spain continued to press high in the opening ten minutes, and Ferran Torres had a goal disallowed after Fabian Ruiz was judged offside in the buildup. Shortly after, Torres missed two clear one-on-one opportunities against Trafford, sending one shot directly at the goalkeeper and chipping another wide. Anderson also surrendered possession in defense under pressure from Marc Cucurella, but England avoided conceding further in the early exchange.

England turnaround and Kane penalty miss

England grew into the match and overturned the deficit before halftime. Anthony Gordon scored the equalizer after receiving a pass from Jude Bellingham during a quick transition. Two minutes later, England took a 2-1 lead when Cucurella inadvertently deflected a shot from Harry Kane into the net past goalkeeper Unai Simon. The English side maintained momentum early in the second half and was awarded a penalty after a video assistant referee review determined Rodri committed a foul on Bellingham. Kane had the opportunity to increase England's advantage, but his spot-kick struck the crossbar and bounced clear.

Substitutes secure the comeback

The missed penalty served as a turning point, prompting Spain manager Luis de la Fuente to make tactical changes in the 55th minute. He brought on Alex Baena for Nico Williams and introduced Mikel Oyarzabal into the attack to restore midfield control and positional balance. Baena leveled the score at 2-2 with a strike from outside the penalty area. In the 74th minute, Baena delivered a through pass to Oyarzabal, who placed his finish past Trafford to secure a 2-3 victory. Spain held off late pressure from Thomas Tuchel's side to take all three points in front of 4,700 traveling Spanish supporters.

Lineup adjustments and group standings

De la Fuente made three changes from Spain's World Cup final starting eleven, with Marc Pubill starting at right back after Eric Garcia felt discomfort during the pre-match warm-up. The victory extended Spain's unbeaten run in official matches to between 38 and 40 matches, depending on source counts. The win places Spain at the top of Group 3 in the Nations League ahead of its second match against the Czech Republic on Tuesday.