How England found a new edge to beat Spain and exorcise agony of Argentina defeat
England hold out, for a raucous win that will rightly be held up. Sure, it might not have been what it could have been as Ben White surged in for a sensational third in Madrid… but that last word remains key.
England beat the world and European champions 3-2 in their own capital, to end the longest unbeaten run in international history, that stretched back to March 2024.
Spain couldn’t make it 44 games, as England just about made it to 94 minutes. That was ultimately down to a brilliant double save from James Trafford, who was one of many positives on another Nations League night of enjoyably entertaining drama. Might Jordan Pickford’s first place have gone with Spain’s unbeaten run?
Trafford had to show his best. This was never going to be easy, no matter how Thomas Tuchel’s side made it look for 63 minutes - until Elliott Anderson’s red card. That will be the manager’s main takeaway from the game, the “proof of concept” as he put it the night before. With 11 against 11, England were denying this Spanish team the ball and creating some swift chances that the world champions were struggling to live with.
That was what the game-opening goal came from. Even if there was also debate about Anderson’s follow-through in that instance, England had opened another gap in the Spanish structure while looking so more cohesive and coruscating themselves.
This is a team that can sustain attacking waves much better than the one who mostly forced their way through the summer on individual impact. White’s supreme goal, that had the world champions looking at each other and pointing fingers, was the grand exhibition of that.
Just as crucially, it was so different to what Spain do. It was something of England's own. In between, Esri Konsa scored the plundered set-piece header that his recent performances have deserved. Jude Bellingham was at that point bossing the Spanish midfield, in the kind of way people have long imagined as his career has only escalated.
This, and the very confidence from such a marker of a win, are what England have to take through to finally win that trophy at Euro 2028.
So many positives, so many solutions… until Spain asked the most severe questions, and Tuchel didn’t always have the answers. That is where there is obvious context to a win that should still inspire confidence.
It clearly meant much more to England given the fact Spain are the world champions who had won at Wembley. They're the ones who have done it, the benchmark. Tuchel and all the players were aware they had to do something more, to close this year with a performance that offered more for the future; that they had to stand up.
They had admittedly felt frustration from that Wembley defeat; that they could have won. As a consequence, England just looked sharper for pretty much all of the first hour. Spain didn’t even have a shot on target in the first half, as Unai Simon immediately had to withstand an England flurry.
The world champions weren’t counter-pressing in the way they were in the summer. England were starting to overrun them. The ultimate expression of that, in White’s goal, did seem to spark something in response.
It is possible that England themselves even got a bit overconfident. In what has been a theme in this double of games - that ended 3-2 apiece but see England top the group on goal difference - Tuchel’s side gave the ball away for a Spanish goal.
This time it was Anthony Gordon, who seemed to forget what Lamine Yamal can do. Even the Barcelona playmaker took a poor touch from there, leading to what felt like a needless challenge from Anderson. He was sent off, and Spain were set off.
It was immediately a different game. Spain were doing everything they weren’t in the first half. A change of midfield helped, with Fermin Lopez offering the impetus that Luis De La Fuente’s midfield had been missing. Nico Williams’s brilliant finish from an utterly sensational Yamal pass was then a goal to match White’s.
And so, in what was almost humorous irony, England ended 2026 in the way they’d ended its defining games: backs to the wall, a backline of nine, Tuchel hauling off his best attackers, and questions about the subs.
Spain really pressed. Yamal was at the heart of every move, creating almost every chance. The game then seemed to just constantly be the ball being fired across the England box. England were probably one bad bounce away from another inquest about Tuchel’s substitutions, and how he manages these matches.
But that bounce didn’t come. The equaliser didn't come. England stood up.
And that might be because of a decision Tuchel doesn’t even have to make. Trafford made his claim. England made their mark.
Tuchel has ultimately overseen their most significant win for some time, at least as regards what it means for finally winning that trophy. That’s what all this is about, after all.
Spain can fairly say that what really matters is what happens in tournaments, but it didn’t feel meaningless as they toiled to keep that unbeaten record and the Madrid crowd willed them on. That run is now over. Might that finally signal that this could be England’s time?
It is far too early to say, but this was the end to the year Tuchel wanted. It was the performance England needed.
