Tuchel: Lewis Hall Injury Scare Kept Him Out vs Spain

England lost 3-2 to Spain at Wembley on Saturday, and Thomas Tuchel confirmed afterwards that Lewis Hall's absence from the starting side was down to fitness rather than form.

"He missed some training sessions with a bit of an injury scare, Lewis Hall," the England manager told reporters. "That is why I was a bit hesitant to put him out there today. He is an option, he trained well at the end of the week but he was out of training at the start, we didn't want to take any risk because there was high speed running to do and defending against Lamine Yamal. I did not want to risk it. He is always in our discussions in the left-back position, he plays left-back at his club, Nico plays in centre midfield. Lewis' situation is he will fight for his place and get his first matches, there are still a few matches to go."

Hall made the bench but did not come on. Nico O'Reilly started at left-back instead and played the full 90 minutes, setting up Harry Kane's goal as England went 2-1 up. He was also at fault for Alex Baena's equaliser on the hour and had a difficult afternoon against Yamal, who had opened the scoring inside the second minute after Marc Guehi was caught in possession. Hall, by contrast, had been praised last season for containing Yamal when Newcastle faced Barcelona in the Champions League — form that has since been rewarded with a contract extension at the club.

Mikel Oyarzabal settled it in the 74th minute, the same player who scored the winner against England in the 2024 European Championship final. Spain are now unbeaten in 39 games.

Bellingham laughs off Cucurella clash

The other flashpoint at Wembley came late in the first half, when Jude Bellingham clashed with his Real Madrid teammate Marc Cucurella. Bellingham was unhappy with a challenge from the Spain full-back and made his feelings known in his ear; the pair kept arguing after play had moved on. Cucurella joined Real Madrid from Chelsea this summer, having been part of Spain's World Cup-winning squad in North America.

It was not the first time the two had come to blows. At the end of a Champions League match between Bellingham's former club Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea in 2023, the England midfielder shoved Cucurella and the two had to be separated. This time, asked about the incident as he left the stadium, Bellingham broke into a grin and laughed rather than answer.

England return to Nations League action on Tuesday against Czechia in Prague, before closing out the international break against Croatia and a second meeting with Czechia. Hall's fight for the left-back spot, by Tuchel's own account, is far from over.