England manager Thomas Tuchel believes his side deserved more from their 3-2 defeat to Spain at Wembley in the Nations League, despite costly mistakes that allowed the European champions to punish them on Saturday night, September 26, 2026.
England recovered from an early setback to take control of the contest before the break, with Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon scoring within four minutes of each other.
However, Spain capitalised on defensive lapses to regain the advantage in the second half, with Lamine Yamal opening the scoring before Alex Baena restored parity. Mikel Oyarzabal then struck the decisive goal.
Kane also had an opportunity to change the outcome after the break but failed to convert a penalty.
Costly errors
Tuchel admitted England’s errors proved costly against a side that made the most of their opportunities.
“We did everything today to beat Spain,” Tuchel said after the game. “Details matter on this level. Clear-cut mistakes were too high on our side, unfortunately. In the last 20 metres they were more clinical and composed to convert our ball losses into clear-cut chances.
“Still we had them and we had our chance to beat them.
“We will keep on pushing. We proved at the World Cup that we are capable of doing it at tournaments. Today we cannot prove it in the result, but I think the way we played was enough to beat them,” he added.
Gordon’s view
On his part, England’s Anthony Gordon, who scored an equaliser, said England are almost to the same level as Spain.
“I don’t think there is a gap [to Spain] I feel like we’re right there,” Gordon told ITV Sport. “We can win that game so easily. If the penalty goes in we can go on and win the game. In hindsight it’s always easy to say that. But I felt good in the game.
“I don’t think there is a gap and I think if we played them in the final I would’ve felt confident. Being confident doesn’t always translate into a win, but I think you’ve seen here tonight that we’re a top team,” said.