England’s hopes of beating Spain were undone by a series of costly mistakes as the World champions recovered from a 2-1 deficit to claim a 3-2 victory.
Spain took control almost immediately after England gifted them the opening goal. Marc Guehi’s attempt to play out from the back went badly wrong as he put the ball straight into the path of Lamine Yamal, who made no mistake when faced with goalkeeper James Trafford.
England struggled to contain Spain in the opening half, with Ferran Torres twice going close. His first effort was ruled out for offside before Trafford produced an important save, while the forward later missed from a one-on-one position.
But England found a way back into the contest by switching to a more direct approach. Anthony Gordon levelled after 36 minutes, racing through before calmly finishing past Unai Simon.
The turnaround was completed only four minutes later. Harry Kane rose to meet a cross, with his header taking a deflection off Marc Cucurella before finding the net.
England had the chance to move two goals clear early in the second half when Jude Bellingham was brought down by Rodri inside the area. A VAR review resulted in a penalty, but Kane’s attempt ended against the crossbar after the England captain slipped and made contact with the ball twice.
Spain were given a way back into the game on the hour. England again surrendered possession cheaply, with O’Reilly’s mistake allowing substitute Alex Baena to collect the ball and fire a low shot beyond Trafford from the edge of the area.
The momentum had shifted once more and Spain completed the comeback with 16 minutes remaining.
A flowing attacking move opened up the England defence before Mikel Oyarzabal produced a delicate finish over Trafford to put Spain ahead.
Oyarzabal had also scored the decisive goal when Spain defeated England in the Euro 2024 final, and his latest contribution left England once again facing disappointment against the same opponents.
