How England can top their Nations League group against Spain - and why it matters

England will finish top of their Nations League group if they beat Spain in Madrid on Sunday, and the scoreline does not matter.

The Three Lions trail the world champions by three points in the group, with Spain boasting a perfect record of five wins from five games.

La Roja's win against Czechia last week extended their record-breaking unbeaten run to 43 games. Spain have not lost in any competition since a friendly defeat to Colombia in March 2024.

England are already through to the quarter-finals. A 2-1 win over Croatia at Wembley, settled by a Harry Kane penalty on his record-breaking 126th appearance, guaranteed a top-two finish in League A Group 3.

Thomas Tuchel's were beaten 3-2 by Spain at Wembley in September. Even so, their overall goal difference is better than Spain's, so a victory of any margin would lift them above Luis de la Fuente's side.

A draw or a defeat would leave England in second place.

The quarter-finals are two-legged ties. The four League A group winners are seeded for the draw and will meet a runner-up from a different group.

That should mean a kinder draw on paper, although the current runners-up show the limits of that idea: Greece in Group A2, Denmark in Group A4 and France in Group A1.

The bigger advantage is the second leg. Group winners host it, which would give England the chance to settle the tie at Wembley. Finish second, and they would be unseeded, drawn against a group winner and forced to play the decisive leg away from home.

Teams from the same group cannot be paired in the quarter-finals, so England will not meet Spain again at that stage. With one round of games left in every group, these sides remain in the running elsewhere in League A:

Portugal have already booked their place in the last eight. The other groups will be settled in the final round of fixtures.