Anthony Gordon shines as Spain edge England 3-2

England led Spain at half-time at Wembley and still lost, beaten 3-2 in their Nations League opener by two goals that owed everything to individual errors.

Lamine Yamal put Spain ahead inside two minutes, pouncing after Marc Guehi was dispossessed deep in his own half. Anthony Gordon levelled on 36 minutes with a finish from a swift counter-attack after combining with Jude Bellingham, and Harry Kane headed England in front four minutes later.

Kane then missed the chance to settle it. His penalty in the 54th minute struck the crossbar, and Spain made the reprieve count. Nico O'Reilly gave the ball straight to Dani Olmo, who found Alex Baena to curl in an equaliser on 60 minutes. Mikel Oyarzabal, the substitute who beat England in the Euro 2024 final, scored the winner from close range with 16 minutes left. Bellingham, Guehi and O'Reilly were all booked as the game slipped away, and James Trafford, on international duty away from his season at Burnley, was left with three goals against him.

The win stretched Spain's unbeaten run to 39 games. Gordon, who plays his club football at Barcelona, does not accept there is any gap to close.

"I don't think there is a gap [to Spain], I feel like we're right there," Gordon told ITV Sport. "We can win that game so easily. If the penalty goes in we can go on and win the game. In hindsight it's always easy to say that. But I felt good in the game. I don't think there is a gap and I think if we played them in the final I would've felt confident."

Roy Keane disagreed with that reading on the same broadcast, arguing there remains a gap between England and the world champions.

Gordon's own night drew warmer notices in Spain than at home. AS rated him the outstanding performer at Wembley, writing that Marc Pubill "was outplayed by Barcelona's Gordon, the star of the night," and placed him among five England players to earn a two-out-of-three mark, alongside Bellingham, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Elliot Anderson and Bukayo Saka. Marca scored it almost the same way, adding only Kane to that group. Guehi received no such credit, criticised in the Spanish press for his part in Yamal's opener.

Gordon came off with 20 minutes to go, replaced by Morgan Rogers, who has scored four goals for Chelsea since his summer move. Supporters questioned Thomas Tuchel's timing, given how well Gordon had played, but the winger backed the decision.

"I'm always disappointed when I come off only just because I want to score more goals and be part of every part of the game," Gordon told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Tonight I felt like it was maybe the right decision because I felt a bit tired. I'd done a lot of long-distance running at high speed so tonight I have no complaints with the manager taking me off."

The defeat has no bearing on World Cup qualifying, where both sides still sit top of their groups on seven points from three matches. What Saturday leaves behind is a straightforward argument between a player who believes England are already there and a former captain who thinks they are not.