England expensive Spain in the UEFA Nations League at Wembley in their first game since the World Cup.
The Three Lions produced their best performance at a World Cup since winning it in 1966 as they finished third in the finals in North America after a semi-final loss to Argentina.
It was Spain who lifted the trophy for the second time with a 1-0 victory over Argentina in the final, reclaiming football’s most prestigious prize two years after beating England at Euro 2024.
This is the first meeting between the two sides since the European Championship final in Berlin, and 101GreatGoals has the full team news.
England team news
The big news for England comes in goal, where James Trafford gets the nod ahead of long-time number one Jordan Pickford.
The XI features just six players, Marc Guehi, Elliot Anderson, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane, who started against Argentina.
Jarell Quansah is preferred at right-back over the returning Trent Alexander-Arnold with Reece James unavailable through injury.
Myles Lewis-Skelly comes into midfield following Arsenal teammate Declan Rice’s withdrawal from the squad.
England: Trafford; Quansah, Konsa, Guehi, O’Reilly; Anderson, Lewis-Skelly; Saka, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane.
England substitutes: Alexander-Arnold, Branthwaite, Calvert-Lewin, Chalobah, Eze, Garner, Gibbs-White, Hall, Pickford, Rogers, Scott, Steele.
News of the Spanish national team
Spain’s starting eleven has only three changes compared to the team that started the World Cup final.
Ferran Torres, who scored the winner in extra time, starts up front, with Mikel Oyarzabal on the bench.
Eric Garcia comes in at right-back with Pedro Porro out through injury, while Nico Williams starts on the left ahead of Alex Baena.
Spain: Simon; Garcia, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Olmo, Williams; towers
Spanish substitutes: Baena, Fermín, Grimaldo, Huijsen, Martínez. Merino, Oyarzabal, Pedri, Pino, Pubill, Raya, Zubimendi.
England v Spain recent form and statistics
- England have won 14 of their previous 28 meetings with Spain in all competitions.
- Spain have won their last competitive match, beating England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final.
- England have won four of their last five matches, with their only defeat coming against Argentina in the World Cup semi-final.
- Spain have won their last five games, including a 1-0 win in the World Cup final against Argentina.
- Spain are unbeaten in normal time since their friendly defeat to Colombia in March 2024.
- England return to the Nations League League A after winning promotion to League B in the 2024-25 edition.
- Spain won the League of Nations in 2022-23 and was runner-up in the previous edition.
Where to watch England v Spain: TV and online broadcasts
England v Spain can be seen live on ITV in the UK, with coverage from 6.45pm ahead of the 7.45pm kick-off at Wembley. The match will also be broadcast live on ITVX.
TalkSPORT will also provide live radio commentary from Wembley.