Spain opened their UEFA Nations League League A Group 3 campaign with a thrilling 3–2 victory over England at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night, fighting back from a first-half deficit to secure all three points on Matchday 1.
Lamine Yamal shocked the home crowd by opening the scoring inside two minutes. However, England staged a pre-break turnaround as Anthony Gordon leveled in the 36th minute before Harry Kane added a second four minutes later, sending the hosts into half-time with a 2–1 lead.
England squandered a golden opportunity to extend their advantage early in the second half when a VAR review yielded a penalty, which Kane smashed against the crossbar in the 54th minute. Spain punished the miss swiftly: substitute Álex Baena equalized in the 60th minute before fellow substitute Mikel Oyarzabal scored the decisive winner in the 74th minute.
Spain conceded twice in the first half of a competitive fixture for the first time since October 2018, when they surrendered three first-half goals to England in the UEFA Nations League at the Benito Villamarín. Furthermore, La Roja allowed more goals in 45 minutes at Wembley than across their entire 2026 World Cup campaign, where they conceded just a single goal.
At 19 years and 75 days old, Yamal etched his name into the record books by becoming the youngest player to score against England in a competitive fixture at Wembley over the past two decades. His strike also represents the third-fastest goal conceded by England at their iconic home ground, trailing only Scotland’s 1957 effort and Hungary’s 1953 opener—both scored in the opening minute.
The victory moves Spain to the top of Group 3 with three points, leading Croatia on goals scored following their 2–1 win over the Czech Republic. England occupy third place without points, ahead of the fourth-placed Czechs on goals scored, keeping the qualification race wide open after one round of matches.
Spain continue their international break by hosting Croatia on September 29 and the Czech Republic on October 3, before traveling to Croatia on October 6. Meanwhile, England visit the Czech Republic on September 29 and Croatia on October 3, before returning to Wembley to host the Czech Republic on October 6.
