England vs Spain at Wembley: Nations League opener follows World Cup final and five England withdrawals

LONDON — England hosts Spain at Wembley Stadium on Saturday in the opening Group A3 match of the 2026–27 UEFA Nations League. Kickoff is at 7:45 p.m. BST (2:45 p.m. EDT), with ITV and ITVX carrying live coverage in the United Kingdom and talkSPORT providing radio coverage. The match marks England’s return to League A after promotion from the competition’s second tier.

It is the first match for either team since the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Spain arrives as reigning world and European champion after beating Argentina 1-0 in extra time for the global title. England finished third, defeating France 6-4 after a 2-1 semifinal loss to Argentina.

England manager Thomas Tuchel has had five players withdraw through injury from his initial squad: midfielders Declan Rice and Kobbie Mainoo, forward Marcus Rashford, attacker Cole Palmer and full-back Tino Livramento. Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White and Everton’s James Garner have been added to the senior roster. With Rice unavailable, Alex Scott is in contention to start alongside Elliot Anderson in central midfield.

Spain won the teams’ latest competitive meeting, beating England 2-1 in the UEFA Euro 2024 final. England leads their 28 all-time meetings in international competition with 14 wins to Spain’s 11, with three draws. Spain has won five straight matches and has not lost in regulation play in any competition since a friendly defeat to Colombia in March 2024.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente is without injured goalkeeper Joan Garcia and right-back Pedro Porro. Marcos Llorente has retired from international competition, while midfielder Gavi and forward Borja Iglesias were omitted from the current roster. De la Fuente gave senior call-ups to uncapped full-back Ivan Fresneda and forward Roberto Fernandez; winger Nico Williams has returned to full training after an injury layoff.

England defender Lewis Hall had fitness concerns during training earlier in the week. Trent Alexander-Arnold has returned to the squad setup and is competing with Jarell Quansah for the starting right-back role. England has won four of its last five internationals, having earned automatic promotion by finishing top of its League B group in the 2024–25 Nations League cycle.

The projected England lineup is Jordan Pickford; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly; Elliot Anderson, Alex Scott; Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon; and Harry Kane. Spain’s projected lineup is Unai Simon; Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsi, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams; and Mikel Oyarzabal. Oyarzabal and Paris Saint-Germain forward Ferran Torres remain Spain’s primary options to lead the attack.

Davide Massa of Italy is the match official. Spain won the 2022–23 Nations League championship over Croatia on penalty kicks and finished runner-up in the 2020–21 and 2024–25 editions. Saturday’s fixture begins a four-match international window for both teams; after Wembley, England travels to face Czechia and Croatia before hosting Czechia in London.