England 2-3 Spain: How Spain Rallied to Win the Nations League Opener
- 🔑 Spain came from behind twice to beat England 3-2 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, September 26, 2026, in the opening match of UEFA Nations League Group A3, a rematch of the Euro 2024 final that Spain also won on penalties.
- Lamine Yamal scored inside the first two minutes for Spain, but England answered before halftime through Anthony Gordon in the 36th minute and captain Harry Kane in the 40th minute, sending the hosts into the break with a 2-1 lead.
- Harry Kane hit the crossbar with a second-half penalty in the 54th minute, awarded after a foul on Jude Bellingham inside the box, missing a chance to put England two goals clear of Spain in the group opener.
- Substitutes Alex Baena, who equalized in the 60th minute, and Mikel Oyarzabal, who scored the winner in the 74th minute, came off the bench to complete Spain’s second-half comeback and seal the 3-2 final result away at Wembley Stadium.
- The result extended Spain’s unbeaten run to 39 matches overall, as the reigning 2026 World Cup champions opened their UEFA Nations League campaign with a come-from-behind win on the road against England at Wembley Stadium in London.
- England are next scheduled to travel to face Czechia on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, as Group A3 play continues; the group also includes Croatia. No betting odds, point spreads, or win-probability models appear anywhere on this page.
Spain came from behind twice to beat England 3-2 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, September 26, 2026, in the opening match of UEFA Nations League Group A3. Lamine Yamal put the visitors ahead inside two minutes, England hit back before halftime, and two second-half goals from Spain’s substitutes settled a rematch of the Euro 2024 final. The result extended Spain’s unbeaten run to 39 matches, as confirmed as of Sunday morning, September 27, 2026.
Who won the England vs. Spain Nations League match?
Spain won 3-2, overturning a 2-1 halftime deficit to beat England at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, September 26, 2026. The match was Matchday 1 of UEFA Nations League Group A3, a group that also includes Croatia and Czechia, and it doubled as a rematch of the Euro 2024 final, which Spain won on penalties. England were playing their first competitive match since the 2026 World Cup, while Spain arrived at Wembley as the reigning World Cup champions.
How did Spain come back to win?
Spain scored twice in the second half, through substitutes Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal, to erase England’s halftime lead. Yamal opened the scoring in the second minute, finishing off a fast start from the visitors. England settled and struck twice in a four-minute span before the break: Anthony Gordon finished a quick counterattack in the 36th minute, and captain Harry Kane headed England in front in the 40th. Baena leveled the score in the 60th minute, and Oyarzabal put Spain ahead for good in the 74th, completing the turnaround.
| Min | Scorer | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2' | Yamal | Spain |
| 36' | Gordon | England |
| 40' | Kane | England |
| 60' | Baena | Spain |
| 74' | Oyarzabal | Spain |
What happened with Harry Kane’s penalty miss?
Harry Kane hit the crossbar with a penalty in the 54th minute, missing a chance to put England two goals clear. The penalty was awarded after a foul on Jude Bellingham inside the Spain box. Had Kane converted, England would have led 3-1 with just over half an hour to play. Instead, the score stayed at 2-1, and Spain’s substitutes did the rest, scoring twice in the final half hour to turn the match around.
How significant is Spain’s 39-game unbeaten run?
The win stretched Spain’s unbeaten run to 39 matches, one of the longest active streaks in international soccer. Spain went through all of 2026 unbeaten on the way to winning the World Cup, and Saturday’s result at Wembley was their first competitive fixture since lifting that trophy. Beating England away from home, after trailing at halftime, is the kind of result that keeps a streak like that intact rather than a formality against a weaker side.
What’s next for England and Spain in Group A3?
England are next scheduled to play away against Czechia on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, just three days after the Spain defeat, in Matchday 2 of Group A3. Spain’s group campaign also continues, with Croatia and Czechia both still to play. Group A3 runs through mid-November 2026, with each team playing six matches in total before the group’s placing is decided, so Saturday’s result is an opening result rather than the final word on the group.
Spain’s comeback at Wembley was the headline result of the opening Nations League weekend, and we will have the story from Group A3’s next round when England visit Czechia on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.
How we verified this
The final score and goal times (Yamal 2’, Anthony Gordon 36’, Harry Kane 40’, Alex Baena 60’, Mikel Oyarzabal 74’) were checked against the official England national team site’s match centre, a major US sports network’s match report and box score, a UK sports broadcaster’s match report, and a soccer news site’s recap — all reporting the same 3-2 scoreline and sequence of goals with no discrepancies.
Harry Kane’s missed penalty (54th minute, crossbar, awarded for a foul on Jude Bellingham) was corroborated across the same set of match reports.
Spain’s 39-match unbeaten run was confirmed by a major US sports network’s report and separate wire-service copy carried by multiple regional outlets, with matching figures.
The next fixture date (Czechia vs. England, Tuesday, September 29, 2026) was checked against the official competition organizer’s published fixture list; this is a scheduled future match and had not been played as of this writing.
No betting odds, spreads, or win-probability models appear anywhere on this page.