World Cup winner Spain was beaten for the first time in more than two years after losing 3-2 at home to England in the Nations League on Sunday.
Spain's 43-game unbeaten streak ended with a first defeat since a 1-0 loss to Colombia in March 2024 in a friendly match played at Wembley Stadium in London.
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A few months later Spain won the European Championship and followed up that triumph with the World Cup earlier this year.
Although Spain lost the previous Nations League final to Portugal last year in a penalty shootout, that match counted as a draw statistically because it ended 2-2 after extra time.
Spain was constantly troubled by World Cup semifinalist England's intense pressing game, and coach Luis de la Fuente gave praise to his counterpart Thomas Tuchel's side.
“In the first 30 minutes, they knocked us out of our rhythm and were better than us. After that, we fought back, and I thought we were going to get the draw,” he said. “The fact that the whole world wants to beat Spain is a great feeling. This was a ‘final’ and in this type of game, you have to be spot on, in great shape, and if not, then an opponent like England, France, Portugal or Italy can trample all over you.”
England's goals came via a penalty from captain Harry Kane — who grabbed his 93rd goal for England — and defenders Ezri Konsa and Ben White.
Spain replied through Mikel Oyarzabal's penalty and a goal from Nico Williams, with Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal involved in both.
But England goalkeeper James Trafford denied Spain with several fine saves in the closing stages.
De la Fuente had some uplifting words for his team.
“If there are sad guys in my dressing room right now, then I’d like to be able to say to them over the next few days: ‘Guys... be aware of the magnitude of what you’ve achieved, how difficult it was and how proud you should be,'" he said.
Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón was honest in his appraisal.
“Tonight they were superior to us, they employed a very aggressive one-on-one approach," he said. "Of course, we needed to keep trying until the very end, and we did fight, but this serves as a lesson on what we need to improve.”
He added that Spain hadn't matched the defensive intensity it had shown during its run to World Cup victory, where the team conceded only one goal in eight games.
“The intensity present at the World Cup isn’t quite the same here," the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper said. “The game is played with more freedom, and we need to learn from our mistakes. It's better that this happens now, so we can improve (at the quarterfinals) in March.”
The quarterfinal draw is on Friday. ___
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
