Ten-man England end Spain's 43-game unbeaten run, their first Madrid loss since 1987

Spain had not lost a match in 43 games, and they had not lost in Madrid since Gary Lineker scored four times at the Santiago Bernabéu in 1987. England ended both runs on Sunday night. Harry Kane, Ezri Konsa and Ben White put Thomas Tuchel's side 3-0 up inside 57 minutes at the Metropolitano, and England then held on with 10 men for a 3-2 win that also takes first place in Nations League Group A3.

Spain's last outright defeat before Sunday came in March 2024, a 1-0 friendly loss to Colombia in London. Since then, Luis de la Fuente's team won Euro 2024 and the 2026 World Cup, and their only blemish was the 2025 Nations League final, which they lost to Portugal on penalties after a 2-2 draw. They had also won 12 straight games, including all five group matches in this campaign, one of them a 3-2 win at Wembley in September.

Tuchel had called them "a team that has forgotten how to lose" before the trip. His side reminded them in the first hour. Kane converted a penalty on the stroke of half-time after Pau Cubarsí brought him down, a kick that carried extra weight because he slipped and hit the crossbar from the spot against Spain at Wembley. De la Fuente made three changes at the break, sending on Pedri, Dean Huijsen and Fermín López, and England scored twice more within 12 minutes of the restart: Konsa headed in Declan Rice's corner unmarked in the 53rd minute, and White finished a counterattack from Jude Bellingham's pass in the 57th.

Spain had managed just one shot on target in more than an hour. Then the game turned in the 63rd minute. A loose sequence started with Rice's pass back to Jarell Quansah, Lamine Yamal stole the ball and drove into the box, and Elliot Anderson pulled him down. French referee Clément Turpin gave the penalty and showed Anderson a straight red card. Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the spot two minutes later.

Former England defender Matt Upson, working for BBC Radio 5 Live, called the red "a tiny bit harsh," saying Anderson "touches his shoulder, he doesn't pull him down." Some viewers also argued Yamal had fouled Quansah first. Either way, the decision gave Spain an extra man for almost half an hour, and they used it. In the 75th minute Anthony Gordon lost the ball in midfield, Yamal crossed from the right and substitute Nico Williams finished in off the far post.

From there it was a siege. Spain pushed all 10 outfield players into England's half, and James Trafford, picked ahead of Jordan Pickford for this game, made a point-blank save from Fermín López and then a double save as the hosts chased an equalizer. Through 89 minutes, BBC Sport had Spain with 62% of the ball and 19 shots to England's nine, but England had more shots on target, five to four.

Tuchel waited untill the 78th minute to make his first change, taking off Kane for Myles Lewis-Skelly, and later replaced Bellingham and Gordon with Djed Spence and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Bellingham was visibly unhappy as his number went up.

England finish level with Spain on 15 points, and the head-to-head is level too after two 3-2 away wins, so overall goal difference decides it: England's plus-13 against Spain's plus-eight, with the 7-0 in Croatia doing most of the work. That makes England a seeded group winner for the quarterfinals in March, with the second leg at home. It is also the second time in eight years that England went 3-0 up on Spanish soil and won 3-2 after a late Spanish push, after Seville in October 2018. This one ended a streak that had outlasted two major tournaments, and Spain will be without Álex Baena for the first quarterfinal leg after his yellow card on Sunday.