Marc Guehi has built an England career on doing the simple things properly. At Wembley on Saturday, with the crowd still filing into their seats, he dwelled on the ball deep in his own half, let Lamine Yamal steal it off his toe and watched the Barcelona forward rifle a finish in off the post. Ninety-eight seconds had been played. It was one of the quickest goals England have conceded at home in 70 years, and it set the pattern for a 3-2 defeat by the world champions in which the Three Lions led, lost their nerve and lost their opening Nations League fixture.
Spain, unbeaten now in 39 matches, needed two second-half goals to do it — Alex Baena curling in on 60 minutes and Mikel Oyarzabal finishing the job on 74 — after Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane had turned the game on its head inside four first-half minutes. In between came the moment that decided it: Kane slipping as he struck a penalty and thumping the ball against the crossbar.
The uncharacteristic error: Guehi 4/10
Guehi was the lowest-rated England player on the night and there was no argument about why. The centre-back, so often the calmest man in a red or white shirt, was dispossessed for the opener and never fully recovered his composure, misjudging his distances against Spain’s rotating front three and playing several passes under pressure that invited it straight back.
He was not alone. Jarell Quansah, at 5/10, defended competently enough but offered little in possession and headed a presentable chance over the bar. Nico O’Reilly produced the excellent cross that led to England’s second goal and then gave the ball away in the build-up to Spain’s third — a 6/10 that captured the evening’s contradictions. James Trafford made two smart saves and could do nothing about any of the three goals.
The wider ratings read like a match England should not have lost:
- Jude Bellingham 9/10 — an inch-perfect pass for Gordon’s goal, dominant between the lines, and he won the penalty
- Anthony Gordon 8/10 — a one-two with Bellingham on the halfway line, then a cool finish past Unai Simon
- Elliot Anderson 7/10 — pressed relentlessly and stood up to Rodri in midfield
- Bukayo Saka 6/10 — won his duel with Marc Cucurella but faded after the break
- Harry Kane 6/10 — a fortunate deflected header for 2-1, then the penalty that hit the bar
- Myles Lewis-Skelly 6/10 — shaky early, better carrying the ball forward before being withdrawn on 70 minutes
- Ezri Konsa 6/10, James Garner 6/10, Morgan Rogers 6/10
Four minutes of the England Tuchel wants
Between the 36th and 40th minutes, England looked like the team that reached a World Cup semi-final in July. Gordon’s goal was a counter-attack of genuine quality, Bellingham releasing him with one touch and the Newcastle forward sliding the ball past Simon. Four minutes later Kane’s header took a deflection off Cucurella and Wembley believed.
The problem was everything either side of it. Ferran Torres spurned two clear openings before the equaliser, and after Kane’s penalty miss Spain simply pressed the accelerator. Baena’s finish was a genuinely excellent one; Oyarzabal’s was the product of an England back line that had stopped tracking runners. Sky Sports’ Rob Dorsett judged that Spain “weren’t the far superior side over 90 minutes” — an assessment that will offer Thomas Tuchel little comfort, because it means the margin was concentration rather than class.
The sharpest statistic of the night: England shipped more goals in this single match than Spain conceded across their entire eight-game World Cup campaign.
A costly start to a campaign Tuchel wanted to win
Tuchel has been explicit that the Nations League is a trophy England should target, and Group 3 is now working against him. Spain and Croatia both have three points; England sit third on none, with a trip to Prague to face the Czech Republic on Tuesday and an away fixture in Rijeka against Croatia on 3 October to follow. The return against Spain in Madrid on 15 November could decide who tops the group, and England may need to win it.
Beyond the table, the questions are familiar ones from the Argentina semi-final: why does this England side stop managing games it has taken control of? Guehi’s error will dominate the headlines, and it deserves to. But defeats to Spain rarely hinge on one mistake, and this one did not either.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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