England v Spain Preview: A Euro 2024 Final Rematch at Wembley
Two years and a bit after Berlin, the same two teams line up again. England against Spain at Wembley on Saturday evening is the opening fixture of Nations League Group A3, and it is also a rerun of the Euro 2024 final, the night Spain won 2-1 and England spent the flight home wondering what else they could have done.
Almost everything about the context has changed since. Spain have added a World Cup to the European title. England have a German manager, a bronze medal and a lingering argument about the semi-final they lost on the way to it. What has not changed is the basic shape of the question: England have the players, Spain have the machine, and nobody in international football has worked out how to stop it.
Kick-off is 7.45pm BST on Saturday 26 September.
This is a huge chance for England to get some form of revenge
A final, replayed
The Euro 2024 final in Berlin still sets the terms. Nico Williams opened the scoring shortly after half-time, Cole Palmer equalised with 17 minutes left after coming off the bench, and Mikel Oyarzabal won it four minutes from the end. Spain were the better team across the tournament and probably across the 90 minutes, and England, under Gareth Southgate, got there on resilience and set pieces rather than control.
Both of the men who scored for Spain that night are in this squad. Palmer is not: he withdrew from the England squad on Monday, which removes the one Englishman with a decent claim to having solved Spain before.
Spain simply do not lose
The headline number is the one Spain will try not to talk about. They have not lost in normal time since March 2024, a run that now stretches towards 38 matches and takes in a European Championship and a World Cup. They went through this summer’s tournament in North America without defeat, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final, and Luis de la Fuente has kept faith with more or less the same group rather than tearing anything up in celebration.
The system is familiar and still unpleasant to face. Rodri and Pedri control the tempo, Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams stretch the pitch to its full width, and the full-backs invert or overlap depending on which problem needs solving. Spain won the inaugural Nations League title available to them in 2022-23 and are among the favourites to add a second, although Portugal arrive as holders after becoming the only two-time winners.
One caveat worth logging: Spain’s record in England is poor. Three wins, one draw and eight defeats on English soil, which is the sort of statistic that means very little on a Saturday night and gets mentioned anyway.
England’s bronze, and the scar
England’s summer was better than any since 1966 and still ended in frustration. A 2-1 semi-final defeat to Argentina knocked them out, Thomas Tuchel took heavy criticism for his decisions in that match, and the response was a third-place play-off against France that finished 6-4, which is not a scoreline anyone predicted and remains the most entertaining England performance in years.
Tuchel has been open about wanting a result here to settle what happened in that semi-final. It is a strange fixture for that purpose, because losing to the world champions at home would prove very little and beating them would prove almost too much. England are also back in League A for the first time since their relegation, having won their League B group last time out, so the group itself carries promotion-level jeopardy rather than just prestige.
England team news
Tuchel named 27 players and lost five of them on Monday. Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Tino Livramento have all withdrawn, which strips out a first-choice midfielder, two attacking options and a full-back in one go. Lewis Hall is a doubt after missing Wednesday’s training session.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is back in the squad, reunited with his Real Madrid teammate Jude Bellingham, and there are recalls for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jarrad Branthwaite, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Alex Scott and Rio Ngumoha. Harry Kane captains the side.
Jude Bellingham is officially named England Men’s Player of the Year for the second consecutive season! His legendary 7 goals at the World Cup set a new record for the most goals by a Three Lions player at a single major tournament. 🏆 🏆
— 365Scores (@365Scores) September 25, 2026
Is Jude Bellingham England’s most… pic.twitter.com/Ldvxao9iUZ
Spain team news
De la Fuente’s 26-man squad is essentially his World Cup winners with two useful returns. Fermín López is back, and so is Dean Huijsen, whose summer move means Spain once again have a Real Madrid player in the group after a World Cup squad that contained none.
Pedro Porro misses out through injury, as do Joan García and Gavi. Marcos Llorente has retired from international football. Roberto Martínez of Espanyol earns a first senior call-up on the back of his form for club and the under-21s. David Raya, Mikel Merino and Martín Zubimendi provide the Premier League contingent, which means a decent chunk of this Spain side knows Wembley and knows the opposition.
Lamine Yamal has taken over Spain! Through the first 7 matches of the La Liga season, Barcelona’s teenage superstar is sitting at the top of almost every key offensive category ✨ pic.twitter.com/L8eKQJlali
— 365Scores (@365Scores) September 25, 2026
Predicted line-ups
England: Pickford; Quansah, Konsa, Guéhi, O’Reilly; Anderson, Scott; Saka, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane.
Spain: Simón; E García, Cubarsí, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, N Williams; Oyarzabal.
Where the game will be decided
England will not out-pass Spain and should not try. The route to a result is the one they found in flashes in Berlin and more convincingly against France in July: sit in a compact mid-block, accept 35 per cent of the ball, and attack the space behind Spain’s advanced full-backs with pace. Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon are quick enough to do that, and Kane is still the best finisher either side will put on the pitch.
The risk is the middle. With Rice unavailable, England’s double pivot has to handle Rodri and Pedri without the ball-winner who has done that job in every big match for the last four years. Get dragged into a passing contest and Spain will have 65 per cent possession and the game inside an hour.
For Spain the question is whether they can find a way through a packed penalty area, because that is the one problem this side occasionally leaves unsolved. Yamal against a makeshift England left side is the matchup that decides it.
FAQs
What time is England v Spain?
7.45pm BST on Saturday 26 September 2026, at Wembley Stadium, in UEFA Nations League Group A3.
Is England v Spain a repeat of the Euro 2024 final?
Yes. Spain beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin, with Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal scoring and Cole Palmer equalising. Both Spanish scorers are in this squad.
Who is missing for England?
Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Tino Livramento all withdrew on 21 September. Lewis Hall is a doubt.
When did Spain last lose?
Spain have not lost a match in normal time since March 2024, a run covering Euro 2024 and their 2026 World Cup win.
What are England’s other fixtures this window?
Czechia away on 29 September, Croatia away in Rijeka on 3 October, and Czechia at Wembley on 6 October.
By Nicky Helfgott – NickyHelfgott1 on X (Twitter)
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