Sunday, 27 September 2026 Slovak News

Sport · United Kingdom, Spain

Spain Beat England 3-2 In Nations League Thriller At Wembley

Substitutes Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal turned the match after Harry Kane missed a penalty, extending Spain's unbeaten run to 39 games.

Live version 1 · updated 9 sources · 2 perspectives
Foto: The Japan Times · source

What's new

  • Spain came from behind twice to win 3-2 at Wembley on 26 September
  • Harry Kane missed a penalty that could have put England 3-1 up
  • Substitutes Baena and Oyarzabal scored Spain's decisive goals
  • Spain's unbeaten run reached 39 matches

Spain came from behind twice to beat England 3-2 in the Uefa Nations League at Wembley on 26 September, extending their unbeaten run to 39 matches after late goals from substitutes Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal overturned an England lead built on a deflected Harry Kane header.1267

A fast start, then a swing

Lamine Yamal opened the scoring for Spain within two minutes after Marc Guehi lost the ball in a dangerous area near his own goal, letting Yamal seize possession and beat goalkeeper James Trafford.1246

England responded before half-time. Anthony Gordon finished a counter-attack in the 36th minute and Harry Kane then put England 2-1 up with a header that deflected in off Marc Cucurella, both moves involving Jude Bellingham.12

England had a chance to extend their lead when VAR awarded a penalty in the 54th minute for a trip on Bellingham, but Kane's effort struck the crossbar after his standing foot slipped during the run-up, according to the Standard.51

Spain's response

Within five minutes of the missed penalty, substitute Alex Baena equalised for Spain, and Mikel Oyarzabal then scored what proved the winning goal in the 74th minute, after Luis de la Fuente had introduced both players, El País reported.197

Ferran Torres also had a goal ruled out for offside during the match, and Trafford made a save to deny him a second Spain goal earlier on, the Guardian reported.12

Tuchel's assessment

England manager Thomas Tuchel described the opening as "Terrible start, the worst start possible" and said the errors made it hard to play catch-up against a side of Spain's quality: "It makes it so difficult to be behind against this kind of team."5

Tuchel said England's response after going behind was strong, adding "After 10, 12 minutes, we were the better team, but we made two or three big mistakes," and said the missed penalty "may have been the decisive moment" before "another big mistake for the 2-2, and the third goal was the only goal they really scored."5

An unbeaten run, and a debate over the gap

The win stretched Spain's unbeaten sequence to 39 matches, a run dating back to a 2024 defeat by Colombia in a London friendly, according to EFE, which also noted the result was Spain's third win at Wembley.6

Roy Keane and England forward Harry Kane offered contrasting views on the gap between the sides. Keane said Spain are world champions and European champions, while Kane contended that England were competing evenly with the world and European champions, adding that his team could well have won on another occasion.32

Why it matters

The result confirms Spain's status as the dominant side in international football after their World Cup and European Championship wins, while raising questions about England's readiness under Tuchel ahead of major tournaments. The match also fed a wider debate in England over whether entertaining, error-prone football can close the gap with the world's best side.21

How the story unfolded

The story's events over time. Click a person, place or related story.

What we know

  • Spain beat England 3-2 at Wembley in the Nations League
  • Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane, Anthony Gordon, Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal scored the match's goals
  • Harry Kane missed a penalty that hit the crossbar
  • Spain's unbeaten run extended to 39 matches
  • Roy Keane and Harry Kane gave differing assessments of the gap between the sides

What we don't know yet

  • Whether this was officially England's first match since the World Cup
  • Whether Spain's unbeaten run will continue in upcoming Nations League fixtures

Timeline

  1. JulyAnthony Gordon put England 1-0 up against Argentina before England fell apart after 55 minutes.1
  2. reported 26 SeptSpain scored almost immediately after a bad moment for Marc Guehi, finished by Lamine Yamal.1
  3. On 36 minutesEngland scored a counterattacking equaliser finished by Anthony Gordon.1
  4. On 54 minutesVAR awarded England a penalty for a trip on Jude Bellingham.1
  5. reported 26 SeptHarry Kane struck the penalty onto the bar after already scoring England's second goal.15
  6. Within five minutesSpain levelled the match shortly after England's missed penalty.1
  7. reported 26 SeptSpain went 3-2 ahead through Mikel Oyarzabal and held that lead.17
  8. on 70 minutesBoth sides introduced fresh midfield options, with Spain turning to Pedri and England bringing on James Garner.1
  9. reported 26 SeptSpain's win extended its unbeaten run to 39 matches, its third at Wembley.6

Quotes

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.

Harry Kane2

Terrible start, the worst start possible

Thomas Tuchel5

Then another big mistake for the 2-2, and the third goal was the only goal they really scored.

Thomas Tuchel5

Los jugadores no paran de querer ser mejores

Luis de la Fuente8

Version history

  1. version 1 · 27 September at 11:35