Who: England vs Spain What: UEFA Nations League 2026-27, Group A3 match Where: Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom When: Saturday, September 26, at 7:45pm (18:45 GMT) How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up and live updates from 15:45 GMT.
England begin their new Nations League campaign with a heavyweight home fixture against the reigning world champions, Spain.
Saturday’s clash at Wembley will be a rematch of the UEFA Euro 2024 final, which Spain won 2-1 in Berlin, Germany.
La Roja, the 2023 Nations League winners, are looking to add a second title to their collection, having also finished runners-up to Portugal in the last edition in 2025.
England, on the other hand, enjoyed their best result in the inaugural 2019 edition, finishing third. They return to League A this time after winning Group B2 in their previous appearance.
Competing in the top division of the structured competition, Croatia and Czechia are the other teams in Group A3 with England and Spain.
The UEFA Nations League was founded in 2018 to reduce the number of meaningless friendlies and give nations competitive matches against equally-ranked teams.
In this competition, countries from across Europe participate in a league structure, which features promotion and relegation.
Opta’s supercomputer has handed Spain a 40.2 percent probability of victory, while England have a 33.6 percent chance of winning. The odds of a draw stand at 26.2 percent.
Spain have won six of their last nine meetings with England.
England and Spain last met at the UEFA Euro 2024 final, in which goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal handed La Roja a 2-1 championship victory. That result marked a record-breaking fourth European crown for Spain.
(Last five games, latest results first)
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham (England): All English hopes will once again rest on captain and Ballon d’Or frontrunner Harry Kane of Bayern Munich, who recently became the fastest player to 100 German Bundesliga goals. Elsewhere, attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham has made an impressive start under new Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, producing three goals and three assists in seven La Liga appearances.
Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal (Spain): La Roja fans will be excited to see Ferran Torres in the national team colours this weekend after he scored a hat-trick in his first Champions League appearance for new club Paris Saint-Germain. His former Barcelona teammate Lamine Yamal, too, is enjoying a strong start this season, with his seven goals rated joint-second-highest in La Liga.
Thomas Tuchel, England coach: “I think the more you analyse Spain and their last matches they played in, you have to admire the way in which they defend. They added this to their game. It’s difficult for every single team in the world to create chances against Spain. But we have a plan, we have ambition, and we want to be the exception to the rule. At the moment, though, they are a very complete team.”
Luis de la Fuente, Spain coach: “I know what these players are made of. We are not satisfied with what we have done so far, I guarantee it. One story is over; now another begins. Another one in which we are very excited. We want to continue doing important things, to continue making records as historic as those that are being achieved.”
England are without winger Marcus Rashford, who picked up a knock, and attacking midfielder Cole Palmer, who has a muscle injury.
Probable England XI: Jordan Pickford; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly; Elliot Anderson, Miles Lewis-Skelly; Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon; Harry Kane
Centre-back Marc Pubill is sidelined with physical discomfort, and goalkeeper Joan Garcia is out with a knee injury.
Probable Spain XI: Unai Simon; Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsi, Dean Huijsen, Marc Cucurella; Fermin Lopez, Rodri, Fabian Ruiz; Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal, Nico Williams
