· 2 min readIn this England vs Spain match, I analyse the key tactical moments, individual performances and turning points of the game.
The big game of the night was at Wembley. England, third at the World Cup, against Spain, the world champions, in the first game for both teams since the tournament. It was also a clash between two of the strongest national teams in the world, with England playing at home, but Spain coming into it slightly ahead after the football they produced at the World Cup.
And Spain needed just two minutes to punish an English mistake. Guéhi received the ball, carried it forward and then turned back without realising Lamine Yamal was behind him. The Spaniard won it back, drove forward and placed the ball into the corner, with the shot hitting the far post before going in. 0-1. A huge mistake from Guéhi and Spain punished it immediately.
England continued to make mistakes in possession and, in the 8th minute, Ferran Torres even scored, but he was clearly offside. Shortly after, Ferran appeared again with plenty of space on the counter, but Trafford made a great save.
In the 18th minute, Ferran once again received from Rodri in behind the defence, beat everyone for pace and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but hit the far post and the ball went wide. He should already have scored by then.
Spain were creating the bigger chances, despite possession being relatively even. England did not manage their first shot until the 29th minute, through Saka, and it was nowhere near the goal. Yamal, meanwhile, looked like he was having one of those days where something could happen every time he touched the ball.
But it was England who found the equaliser. In the 36th minute, Nico Williams lost the ball near the English box and allowed England to break quickly. Gordon played a one-two with Bellingham using his heel, received it back in his stride and fired into the net. 1-1. A mistake from Nico Williams, who tried to take on his man even though almost all of his teammates were ahead of the ball, and England took full advantage.
Four minutes later, England turned the game around. Saka won the ball and found Kane, who saw Gordon running down the left but decided not to release him. He moved to the right instead and the move continued until Nico O’Reilly made his run through the inside channel. The full-back got there ahead of Laporte and crossed for Kane, who also got ahead of the defender and headed home. Cucurella tried to clear it with his thigh, but it was already too late. 2-1. When England find space to run into, they are extremely difficult to stop.
Spain had created much more danger in the first half, but went into the break behind. They had 1.84 xG compared to England’s 0.44 and three big chances to England’s one. The scoreline did not tell the whole story.
England started the second half well and, in the 48th minute, Quansah was completely free from a cross but headed over. Then came a controversial moment. England appealed for a penalty twice in quick succession and VAR eventually reviewed a possible foul by Rodri on Bellingham. The referee pointed to the spot.
Kane stepped up in the 54th minute, but missed. He slipped with his standing foot and hit the crossbar. On top of that, there was an infringement during the penalty because Kane touched the ball twice. Even if he had scored, the goal would have been ruled out or the penalty retaken. Either way, it was a huge opportunity wasted.
Spain responded immediately. In the 59th minute, Yamal and Baena combined and Yamal had a huge chance, but he got the finish all wrong and missed the target. One minute later, Baena made no mistake. After good pressure from Yamal, O’Reilly made a defensive mistake and the ball fell to Baena outside the box. The Spaniard shifted it onto his right foot and curled it into the top corner. Impossible to save. 2-2. Baena had only come on five minutes earlier and was already on the scoresheet.
From there, Spain started to regain what they love most: control through possession. Pedri’s introduction brought an absurd level of calm to Spain’s circulation and, in the 74th minute, the comeback was complete.
This was Spain’s positional play at its purest. Laporte found Baena between the full-back and centre-back, and the midfielder slipped Oyarzabal through. Trafford came off his line, but Oyarzabal produced a perfect chip over the goalkeeper and scored. 2-3. Oyarzabal, like Baena, had started on the bench and also came on in the 55th minute. Two substitutions, two goals and a complete turnaround.
Wembley then started hearing the Spanish fans singing “olé”. Guéhi was having a terrible game and Saka once again went through a match without leaving much of an impact, something that has unfortunately become too common for the Englishman.
Tuchel then took Kane off in the 83rd minute and brought on Calvert-Lewin, a difficult decision to understand considering England needed a goal. In the final minutes, England looked for an equaliser, but the problem was that they had not created a clear chance for more than half an hour.
Post-match
Spain came from behind to win a game that had been 2-1 to England and once again showed their huge ability to control games through possession. For England, it was a defeat in a match where they were effective for a period, but ultimately suffered against Spain’s greater attacking quality and consistency.
