England v Spain: First meeting since Euro 2024 final

England face Spain in the UEFA Nations League at Wembley in their first match since the World Cup.

The Three Lions delivered their best World Cup performance since winning in 1966, when they finished third in the North American playoffs after a semi-final loss to Argentina.

It was Spain who finally lifted the trophy for the second time, with a 1-0 win over Argentina in the final – and reclaimed football’s most prestigious award two years after beating England in the Euro 2024 final.

This is the first meeting between the two teams since the European Championship final in Berlin, and 101GreatGoals has all the team news.

Team news for England
The big news for England comes in the goalkeeping position, where James Trafford is trusted ahead of the long-time number one, Jordan Pickford.

The eleven contains just six players – Marc Guéhi, 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, as Reece James is unavailable due to injury.

Myles Lewis-Skelly comes into midfield after his Arsenal teammate Declan Rice has withdrawn from the squad.

England: Trafford; Quansah, Konsa, Guéhi, 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.

Team news for Spain
Spain’s starting eleven contains just three changes from the team that started the World Cup final.

Ferran Torres, who scored the winning goal in extra time, starts up top, with Mikel Oyarzabal on the bench.

Eric García comes in at right-back while Pedro Porro is out injured, while Nico Williams starts on the left ahead of Álex Baena.

Spain: Simón; García, Cubarsí, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Olmo, Williams; Torres.

Spain’s substitutes: Baena, Fermín, Grimaldo, Huijsen, Martínez, Merino, Oyarzabal, Pedri, Pino, Pubill, Raya, Zubimendi.

Recent England vs Spain form and stats

• England have won 14 of their 28 previous meetings with Spain in all competitions.
• Spain have won the last competitive meeting, with a 2-1 win over England in the Euro 2024 final.
• England have won four of their last five games, with their only loss to Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals.
• Spain have won their last five games, including a 1-0 win over Argentina in the World Cup final.
• Spain have been unbeaten in regulation time since their friendly loss to Colombia in March 2024.
• England are back in the Nations League League A after being promoted from League B in the 2024/25 edition.
• Spain won the Nations League in 2022/23 and finished second in the previous edition.

Recent results: England

Recent Results: Spain