England take positive step forward but Spain defeat reveals true level they must reach
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The World Cup final England could have had but, on this evidence, there would still have been the same champions.
At the very least, Thomas Tuchel has been reminded of the real level that is going to be required to potentially win at this very stadium on 9 July 2028. Might this 3-2 Spain victory even provide a preview?
A significant positive, if also a different kind of problem, is that England did considerably up it from a lot of the World Cup. It was instructive that there were no boos at the end. This had been an entertaining evening of Nations League football at Wembley.
The spell either side of half-time was probably the team’s best attacking performance since those 20 minutes against Croatia. That was illustrated in how they scored twice, doubling the number of goals that Spain conceded throughout all eight games of the World Cup. That wasn’t the only aberration from this Nations League opener. Harry Kane missed a first England penalty since France in the quarter-final of the 2022 World Cup, that could have trebled that stat.
The fact England actually came from behind when the world champions had the advantage of a lead to play their football made it all the more admirable.
Spain could have been out of sight early on. England, and particularly the Clasico duo of Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon, just kept thundering into their rear-view mirror.
The problem was that level was nowhere near enough to fully match Spain. Having been given a jolt, and having to re-assess, Spain just reasserted their football. Their second and third goals, that served to turn around the match for the second time, were all the clean angles and technical excellence you would expect of this team.
Alex Baena found the corner of the net as if it was a pass. Mikel Oyarzabal sumptuously lifted the ball over James Trafford after another exquisite possession exchange.
And that is what really elevates Spain. They just keep committing to this idea, and keep the ball.
It is the kind of idea that England need to develop, for all Tuchel’s talk of DNA. His team did show plenty of spirit, in multiple senses. That is perhaps the wider story of the game for England.
Although there were spells when this could easily have been the convincing defeat that would have compounded so much recent criticism for Tuchel, it didn’t really feel like a night of recrimination.
This time, on going ahead, the only reason that England withdrew was because of the quality of the opposition. Spain began to play so much higher up the pitch again but there were extended spells when England ran around them.
The initial 2-1 turnaround was probably the kind of intense and direct attacking that should form a part of any deeper English idea.
And sure, even if the way Spain play fed into that, there was a proper bite about England.
Bellingham looked extremely keen to put on a show against the country that is no home. There were even a few tense moments with some of his Real Madrid teammates, not least Marc Cucurella.
It was Bellingham’s exhilarating surge from a Spanish set-piece that drove England’s equaliser. He interchanged beautifully with Gordon, for the forward to finish well: Barcelona and Madrid combining, except not for Spain.
There followed a spell when the world champions were put under proper pressure. It culminated in Cucurella being forced into an error, even if the second goal was attributed to Kane.
He could have had a second through that penalty, and England could have had a win that would have made everything feel very different.
Instead, Kane unfortunately slipped, but the way the game proceeded maybe wouldn’t have meant that a two-goal lead was all that secure.
And that doesn’t even extend to the multiple chances that Ferran Torres squandered. He does miss a lot for someone that scored the goal of goals in the World Cup final. Spain sensed the transformation when Oyarzabal came on.
But such a sub also points to two growing issues that Tuchel does have, that are not of his making at all. After years when England had among the best strength in depth in world football, this squad suddenly looks thin in key areas.
The defence isn’t right. Many will say that’s obvious given Marc Guehi erred as early as the second minute for Lamine Yamal to score.
That can happen but what was more concerning was just the balance of the defence. Jarrel Quansah just doesn’t look like a right-back. He was repeatedly exposed.
Why not put Trent Alexander-Arnold there, especially given some of the positions that Quansah took up?
But then there were some of the other changes.
Another chasm started to develop. Spain kept their level, England fell off to the point Luis De La Fuente’s side were playing through them, until a late rally.
From that, you could almost argue this was four games in one. England looked like they could have won one of them. Spain squandered another.
Except, through it all, there was Spanish quality. There was that idea.
That, somehow, is what England have to match. It may have only been the Nations League, but it was consistent with both of the last two major tournaments. Spain won.
