Nations League: Spain Beat England 3-2

Football · UEFA Nations League 2026-27

The league phase is two matchdays old. World champions Spain won a seven-goal-swing thriller at Wembley, Greece beat Germany, and defending champions Portugal have six points from six.

By Sports Desk · 28 September 2026 · Results as of 27 September

Key points

England 2-3 Spain: Yamal scored inside two minutes, Kane missed a penalty at 2-1, and Spain's substitutes Baena and Oyarzabal won it.
Greece (6 points) lead Group A2 after beating Serbia and Germany.
Portugal beat Wales and Norway to lead Group A4; Haaland scored against them.
Finland thrashed San Marino 7-0, with Joel Pohjanpalo scoring three.

League A scores

League A results, matchdays 1 and 2
Date	Group	Result
24 Sep	A2	Netherlands 1-1 Germany
24 Sep	A2	Serbia 1-2 Greece
24 Sep	A4	Norway 3-2 Denmark
24 Sep	A4	Portugal 1-0 Wales
25 Sep	A1	Italy 0-2 Belgium
25 Sep	A1	Türkiye 0-1 France
26 Sep	A3	Czechia 1-2 Croatia
26 Sep	A3	England 2-3 Spain
27 Sep	A2	Serbia 1-2 Netherlands
27 Sep	A2	Germany 0-1 Greece
27 Sep	A4	Denmark 2-0 Wales
27 Sep	A4	Norway 1-2 Portugal

Match analysis

England 2-3 Spain: Wembley thriller, familiar ending

Spain's 39-match unbeaten run survived, though not comfortably. Lamine Yamal punished a Marc Guéhi error to score after two minutes. England answered through Anthony Gordon (36') on the counter and captain Harry Kane (40'), whose header deflected in off Marc Cucurella, to lead 2-1 at half-time.

The turning point came early in the second half. Kane's penalty, won when Jude Bellingham was tripped, hit the bar with England on the brink of a 3-1 lead. Within minutes Spain's substitutes took over: Álex Baena curled in an equaliser from 20 yards (60') and set up Mikel Oyarzabal for the winner (74').

Analysis: England created enough to win, but conceded to two defensive giveaways, and Tuchel's side looked strongest on the counter-attack. With Croatia and Czechia also in Group A3, England have no room for another slip on Tuesday at Czechia.

Greece are the surprise leaders

Greece beat Serbia 2-1 and then Germany 1-0 in Munich's absence of momentum for the hosts of that fixture's opponents: Germany, who drew 1-1 in the Netherlands on matchday 1 (Felix Nmecha opened the scoring; Cody Gakpo equalised for the Dutch in stoppage time), now sit third with one point. Greece's three goals so far came from Anastasios Douvikas, Dimitrios Kourbelis and Christos Tzolis.

Portugal and Norway: Haaland keeps scoring

Portugal are the only side in the group with a perfect record. João Félix scored the winner against Wales, and Gonçalo Ramos is among their scorers in the 2-1 win in Norway, where Erling Haaland pulled one back. Norway beat Denmark 3-2 on matchday 1, so Haaland has two goals in League A already. Denmark bounced back by beating Wales 2-0, helped by a Ben Davies own goal.

Belgium, France and the Netherlands

Belgium won 2-0 in Italy and France edged Türkiye 1-0 through a Kylian Mbappé goal (54'). The two meet tonight in Brussels. The Netherlands followed the Germany draw with a 2-1 win in Serbia. Croatia's Luka Modrić scored again in the 2-1 win over Czechia, with Marco Pašalić getting the second.

League A standings

Group tables after matches played on 27 September (Group A1 after 25 September)
Group	Table (points)
A1	Belgium 3, France 3, Türkiye 0, Italy 0
A2	Greece 6, Netherlands 4, Germany 1, Serbia 0
A3	Spain 3, Croatia 3, England 0, Czechia 0 (one game each)
A4	Portugal 6, Norway 3, Denmark 3, Wales 0

The top two in each group reach the March 2027 quarter-finals. The 2027 Nations League Finals are in June 2027.

Leagues B, C and D

League B: Austria beat Israel and Kosovo 3-1 each time; Kosovo beat Republic of Ireland 1-0 before Ireland beat Israel 3-0. Switzerland won 3-0 in North Macedonia, with Zeki Amdouni the League B top scorer on two goals. Sweden 2-1 Romania, Poland 0-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine 1-0 Hungary, Northern Ireland 1-0 Georgia and Slovenia 0-0 Scotland.
League C: Finland 7-0 San Marino was the standout, and Joel Pohjanpalo's three goals make him the competition's top scorer overall. Albania 2-0 Belarus, Slovakia 2-0 Moldova, Armenia 2-0 Latvia, Montenegro 2-1 Cyprus, Bulgaria 1-2 Luxembourg, Faroe Islands 1-1 Kazakhstan, Iceland 1-1 Estonia.
League D: Malta won 2-1 in Andorra, Lithuania beat Liechtenstein 2-0 and drew 1-1 with Azerbaijan, and Gibraltar and Andorra played out a 0-0 draw.

Players to watch

Lamine Yamal (Spain): Scored after two minutes at Wembley and created chances all night.
Harry Kane (England): Scored a header but missed the penalty that could have changed the game.
Erling Haaland (Norway):Two goals in two games.
Luka Modrić (Croatia): Scored in the win over Czechia at 41.
Kylian Mbappé (France): His goal beat Türkiye.
Cody Gakpo (Netherlands): Rescued a point against Germany in stoppage time.

What is next

Kick-off is 20:45 CET unless stated. Tonight (28 Sep): Belgium v France and Türkiye v Italy. Tuesday 29 Sep: Spain v Croatia and Czechia v England. Thursday 1 Oct: Germany v Serbia, Greece v Netherlands, Denmark v Portugal and Wales v Norway. Fixtures and times can change, so check UEFA before publishing updates.