Spain lost a soccer match for the first time in more than two years on Sunday, beaten 3–2 by England in a statement victory for the Three Lions in the UEFA Nations League to top Group A3.

An English victory looked more nailed on than it actually was in the end, when Harry Kane’s penalty late in the first half was followed early in the second by further goals from Arsenal defenders Ezri Konsa and Ben White.

But then the drama began. Elliot Anderson sent off conceding a penalty scored by Mikel Oyarzabal, before substitute Nico Williams reduced England’s lead and set up a tense final 15 minutes in the Spanish capital, where La Roja hadn’t lost in 39 years prior to kick off.

England started like a bullet train and only point-blank reflexes from 2026 Yashin Trophy winner Unai Simón prevented Jude Bellingham from giving the visiting Three Lions a lead inside 90 seconds. Anthony Gordon was also denied immediately after by a vital block.

England’s press kept putting Spain under pressure deep in their own territory and Kane almost benefited with a shot that flashed only inches wide. Not eight minutes were on the clock, but Spain rode out that initial storm and it soon became a more even contest.

Spain’s increasing influence on proceedings didn’t match England’s early fury, unsurprisingly more patient and methodical as the passes soon racked up.

Still, the lead by halftime was no less than England deserved. The challenge from Pau Cubarsí on Kane was clumsy at best and around four minutes had passed between referee Clément Turpin pointing to the penalty spot and a VAR review ruling on Spain’s flimsy appeal for a free kick in the buildup—Anderson’s through ball to Kane saw follow-through contact on Marc Cucurella but in no way could be considered a foul on the Spain left back.

Kane duly fired past Simón from 12 yards.

Luis de la Fuente was mad enough after seeing his team largely stifled by an impressive England game plan up to that point that he made a triple substitution at halftime. Added to the enforced earlier injury replacement of right back Marc Pubill, the Spain manager had burned through four of his permitted subs with half the match still to play.

But England was clearly emboldened by the way the first half ended and scored a second eight minutes into the second. It was a goal straight from the Arsenal training pitch, with Declan Rice’s corner finding the head of an unmarked Konsa in the middle of Spain’s box. England was then in dreamland just moments later when White’s overlapping run saw the right back played in by Bellingham, finishing with conviction through Simón’s legs.

Then, it threatened to collapse. Out of nowhere, Anderson brought down Lamine Yamal and was red carded for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity. James Trafford was rushing out—would he have got to the ball anyway without Anderson’s tug? Maybe. Either way, it didn’t matter because Oyarzabal scored the subsequent penalty.

Spain pulled back a second goal when Jarell Quansah was caught on the ball in England territory. A first-time pass across the box from Yamal later, Williams was wheeling away in celebration. That made for a tremendously nervous final 15 minutes, as Spain pushed for an equalizer and England, down a man, tried to hang on.

Trafford was called into action several times in the second half, but no save proved more important than a world-class stop to deny Aymeric Laporte off of an initial Fermín López shot.

One Thing We Can’t Ignore

Where was this England performance in the World Cup semifinals?

Thomas Tuchel’s team threw away a place in the 2026 World Cup final that day, leading the contest against Argentina by a single goal but conceding twice in the closing moments to lose the match. The stakes weren’t exactly the same—this was not the World Cup and both teams had already qualified for the Nations League quarterfinals in March. But the England performance made it seem like there has been growth nonetheless.

Initially, here, England didn’t make its brilliant start count. Early chances came and went without being converted and it then seemed only a matter of time before Spain would take control of the ball and pass them into submission.

Kane, fresh from his Ballon d’Or win last month, scored a pressure penalty when he’d missed one that could have changed the outcome in England’s 3–2 defeat to Spain in September. Kane doesn’t often miss from 12 yards, but you’ll recall he also missed under pressure against France in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals.

For Spain, the consequences aren’t huge. The world champion will theoretically have a slightly tougher quarterfinal draw due to England topping the standings on goal difference, but will ultimately still back itself to beat anyone in its path.

The more disappointing aspect from a Spanish point of view is that the undefeated streak is over at 43 matches—a world record all the same. Spain’s last defeat, excluding penalty shootouts, had been on March 22, 2024. It hadn’t lost a competitive international match in even longer, since March 28, 2023, when Scott McTominay scored twice for Scotland in a Euro 2024 qualifier in Glasgow.

Spain Player Ratings vs. England (4-2-3-1)

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: Unai Simón—5.7: Made a huge early save but was powerless to stop Kane’s penalty. Beaten twice more.

RB: Marc Pubill—6.2: Struggled against Gordon in the early stages, but it was a freak injury colliding with his own goalkeeper that ended his night after 21 minutes.

CB: Pau Cubarsí—5.9: It was a poor challenge on Kane to concede the penalty and arguably completely unnecessary with center back partner Laporte arriving to support.

CB: Aymeric Laporte—6.1: Lost sight and touch of Konsa for the second England goal. Instead, claimed a foul that was never going to be awarded.

LB: Marc Cucurella—6.0: Appeared frustrated and rattled by the free kick that didn’t come his way. Ended up yellow carded a few minutes into the second half.

CM: Martín Zubimendi—6.0: Misplaced only three of his 37 attempted passes but didn’t really impact the match in a meaningful way.

CM: Fabián Ruiz—6.7: Embroiled in some sort of heated argument with White as the teams left the field from the opening 45. Unclear if he was substituted to avoid doing something rash had he returned for the second half.

RM: Lamine Yamal—8.5: There were flashes of his threat but the teenage superstar was stuck on the periphery for about an hour of this match. Then, he won the penalty and set up a second Spanish goal. Looked like Spain’s main way to an equalizer, too.

AM: Mikel Merino—6.1: Touched the ball only 20 times in the first half and lost three out of four ground duels. Replaced at halftime.

LM: Álex Baena—7.0: Grew significantly more into the match in the second half.

ST: Mikel Oyarzabal—7.3: Had done almost nothing until converting from the penalty spot, starved of meaningful service in open play.

SUB: Pedro Porro (21’ for Pubill)—6.8

SUB: Dean Huijsen (46’ for Cubarsí)—6.0

SUB: Pedri (46’ for Ruiz)—6.9

SUB: Fermín López (46’ for Merino)—6.5

SUB: Nico Williams (72’ for Zubimendi)—7.3

Subs not used: David Raya (GK), Joan García (GK), Marc Roca, Pablo Barrios, Yéremi Pino, Ferran Torres, Víctor Muñoz.

England Player Ratings vs. Spain (4-2-3-1)

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: James Trafford—7.5: A spectator for over an hour, but more than justified his slightly surprising selection over Jordan Pickford by the end.

RB: Ben White—7.5: Remarkably his first-ever start in a competitive international match. Marked it with a really well taken goal. Made an equally big tackle in the final 10 minutes.

CB: Ezri Konsa—8.2: Scored a bullet header and finished the match with a resilient defensive performance.

CB: Jarell Quansah—6.9: Clearly liked by Tuchel given this was his fourth successive England start. Confident on the ball, but perhaps too confident—had the ball pinched from him that led to Spain getting its penalty.

LB: Lewis Hall—8.0: An all-action performance from a player who has the talent and time on his side to lock down this position for years.

CM: Elliot Anderson—5.4: It was an excellent pass toward Kane that helped pave the way for the England penalty. Ended up sent off when he could have backed his goalkeeper to deny Yamal in that situation.

CM: Declan Rice—8.0: He’s had to defend a perceived lack of creativity again from a pundit intent on pointing it out. But three chances created was a good return.

RM: Morgan Rogers—7.2: Started extremely well before fading from prominence.

AM: Jude Bellingham—8.3: Almost gave England the perfect start. But while he’s never scored at the Metropolitano, his impact was still huge. Forced the corner that produced England’s second goal and then set up the third.

LM: Anthony Gordon—6.7: Started incredibly brightly. His impact in that sense faded, but it was a dogged, hard-working performance. At fault for Spain’s second, though, losing the ball in midfield when he had multiple opportunities to offload.

ST: Harry Kane—8.4: Scored from the penalty spot, having missed in the reverse fixture.

SUB: Myles Lewis-Skelly (78’ for Kane)—6.0

SUB: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (83’ for Gordon)—N/A

SUB: Djed Spence (83’ for Bellingham)—N/A

SUB: Dan Burn (89’ for White)—N/A

Subs not used: Jason Steele (GK), Jordan Pickford (GK), Dan Burn, James Hill, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Eberechi Eze, Jobe Bellingham, Morgan Gibbs-White, Rio Ngumoha.

What the Ratings Tell Us

• England stifled the majority of Spain’s starters. Only three of the Spanish players who began the match on the pitch scored higher than 6.7 out of 10.
• Jude Bellingham stood up to be counted. The Real Madrid star wasn’t happy to be substituted but will be able to look back on a huge contribution to the England victory.
• Never count out Lamine Yamal. The teenager can kid you into thinking it will be a quiet match, before bursting into life and making a huge impact.

The Numbers That Explain England’s Historic Win

• Spain may have peppered England’s goal in the closing stages, but La Roja’s first shot on target didn’t come until Oyarzabal’s 65th-minute penalty.
• England created more higher-quality opportunities to score, edging Spain 5–3 in the ‘big chances’ stakes.
• In the end, it was also an efficient performance in front of goal from England, outscoring its 2.28 xG.