LONDON — World champions Spain came from behind to beat England 3-2 in an entertaining Nations League encounter, England's first match since this summer's World Cup. Lamine Yamal gave Spain the lead after just two minutes, Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane replied to put England 2-1 ahead, before Kane missed a penalty and Alex Baena curled in the equaliser and Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winner for Spain.
Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon led England's ratings with 8s on a difficult night in midfield and attack. Bellingham, the Real Madrid midfielder, provided the assist for Gordon's counter-attack equaliser and won the penalty that Kane hit against the bar after slipping, later stinging Unai Simon's palms with a drive in stoppage time. Gordon kept calm when played through by Bellingham to finish and remained a threat in behind, while Kane, rated 7, dropped deep before scoring with a deflected header to put England ahead and then missed the chance to make it 3-1 from the spot.
At the back, James Trafford was rated 6 after showing his ability with the ball at his feet and making an important first-half save to deny Ferran Torres after Marc Guehi's uncharacteristic error gifted Yamal the opener. Guehi received a 5 for that mistake. Jarell Quansah continued at right-back with a physically dominant display rated 6 but headed over, Ezri Konsa regrouped after shaky moments for a 6, and Nico O'Reilly earned a 6 for his cross for Kane's goal and his work against Yamal, though he gave the ball away for Spain's second. In midfield, Elliot Anderson and Myles Lewis-Skelly both received 6s after taking time to settle against Spain's ball movement, with Lewis-Skelly making his first England start in centre midfield tasked with shutting off supply to Rodri before being replaced after 70 minutes. Bukayo Saka was quiet for a 6, winning free-kicks and curling just wide.
Substitutes James Garner, Morgan Rogers, Morgan Gibbs-White, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jarrad Branthwaite all received 6s after late introductions, with Garner taking on Lewis-Skelly's role against Rodri and Rogers, Gibbs-White, Calvert-Lewin and Branthwaite seeing limited time to influence the game after entering on 70, 83 and 89 minutes. Subs not used were Jordan Pickford, James Steele, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alex Scott, Trevoh Chalobah, Lewis Hall and Eberechi Eze.