Spain made it 39 matches unbeaten and counting despite England leading at half-time at Wembley, with defensive errors undoing Thomas Tuchel’s side.
The Three Lions largely had themselves to blame for failing to get something out of this Nations League game as they gifted the ball to the world champions on repeat by their own box.
Marc Guehi gave away possession for their first goal, Nico O’Reilly for their second, and Spain’s third saw them exploit gaps in England’s leaky back line.
Harry Kane will also be frustrated, having squandered a chance to give England a 3-1 lead from the penalty spot, only for a slight slip to see him send the ball crashing into the crossbar.
Here, Daily Mail Sport gave ratings for each and every player for England and Spain.
Spain made it 39 matches unbeaten and counting despite England leading at half-time at Wembley
England (4-2-3-1)
James Trafford – 5
Conceded after 104 seconds to Lamine Yamal, then could not reach Alex Baena’s shot for 2-2 or stop Mikel Oyarzabal for 3-2. Tough audition.
Jarell Quansah – 4
Selected ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose passing might have helped with England’s playing from the back. Defence invited danger on themselves over and over.
Ezri Konsa – 5
Konsa was not happy with Quansah after Spain made it 3-2, with the latter having helped them stay onside. England’s back line looked leaky.
Marc Guehi – 3
Wouldn’t get away with this in League Two! Just kidding, but Guehi had to know Yamal was behind him. Not the only mistake he made, either.
Nico O’Reilly – 4
Gave the ball away in the build-up to Spain equalising for 2-2. Almost as if the Manchester City boys were taking turns committing errors.
Elliot Anderson – 5
One early attempt at playing from the back was almost costly as Torres charged through, only to miss the target. Tough evening facing Rodri and Ruiz.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – 5
The Spanish press was suffocating early on, and Lewis-Skelly was one of the culprits seeing his blind passes cut out by Cucurella and Co.
Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham found Barcelona’s Anthony Gordon for England’s opening goal
Harry Kane headed in for England but smashed his penalty kick against the crossbar after slipping
Bukayo Saka – 5
Trademark left-footed crack after cutting inside from the right just didn’t have enough curl on it to find the corner at 2-2. Limited impact otherwise.
Jude Bellingham – 7
Real Madrid player who assisted a Barcelona player, but it wasn’t for Spain. Pass found Gordon for 1-1. Won the penalty missed by Kane.
Anthony Gordon – 7
He started the move, then he ended it. His flicked lay-off to Bellingham was followed by the burst in behind to score after the one-two.
Harry Kane – 6
Headed in for England’s 2-1 lead. We all thought he would make it 3-1 via his penalty, only to smash the crossbar after slipping. Unfortunate.
Subs
James Garner (for Lewis-Skelly, 69) – 6
Morgan Rogers (for Gordon, 69) – 6
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (for Kane, 83) – N/A
Morgan Gibbs-White (for Saka, 83) – N/A
Jarrad Branthwaite (for Guehi, 89) – N/A
Manager: Thomas Tuchel – 5
That Guehi’s first instinct was to turn backwards towards his goal was not a great look for Tuchel after all the talk of wanting England to be more daring. A costly error which gifted Spain their lead. His side somehow took the lead, but defensive mistakes largely decided this match.
Spain (4-2-3-1)
Unai Simon – 5
Couldn’t stop Gordon when the winger was one-v-one, and won’t thank Cucurella for how he helped Kane’s header bounce beyond him. The unbeaten run continues at least.
Marc Pubill – 6
Eric Garcia was starting, then he withdrew in the warm-up. In came Pubill, tasked with trying to tame Gordon. Hardly an easy ask.
Pau Cubarsi – 6
While England’s defenders were giving away the ball for fun, Spain’s centre backs were far tidier, showing how you should keep possession.
Aymeric Laporte – 6
Perfect punched pass forwards for the goal that gave Spain their 3-2 lead, basically starting an attack from defence.
Marc Cucurella – 5
Kane hardly headed the ball with thunder, but Cucurella froze. He lifted his knee, and only helped deflect it in for England’s 2-1 lead.
Rodri – 6
Told Bellingham to get up, but VAR told the referee to go to his pitch-side monitor. There, he awarded England a penalty for Rodri’s trip.
Rodri gave away a penalty after VAR told the referee to go to his pitch-side monitor
Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal was angry with himself for not scoring more than one
Fabian Ruiz – 5
Had a great view of Gordon as England’s winger sprinted in behind Spain. Couldn’t keep up with him. Hardly looked like he even tried to.
Lamine Yamal – 8
Yamal ghosted behind Guehi, stole the ball from him, and made it 1-0. Forever creating chances, even if angry with himself for not scoring more than one.
Dani Olmo – 7
Flashed one chance wide after Yamal’s cute flick found his run into the box. Relentlessly pushed up to the top of the front line to press.
Nico Williams – 4
Tried to do a trick, slipped, lost the ball to Anderson, and just like that, England countered and made it 1-1 via Gordon. His replacement, Baena, was the star man.
Ferran Torres – 4
Gordon did what he could not when one-v-one. Twice the PSG striker only had Trafford to beat, but he failed to finish either chance.
Subs
Alex Baena (for Williams, 55) – 8
Mikel Oyarzabal (for Torres, 55) – 7
Pedri (for Ruiz, 69) – 6
Mikel Merino (for Olmo, 82) – N/A
Manager: Luis De La Fuente – 7
Spain could have led by three goals at half-time. Instead they trailed by one. Funny game, football, though De La Fuente probably wasn’t too pleased. His substitutes led by Alex Baena made sure the reigning world and European champions reached 39 games unbeaten after England gave them a scare.
