UEFA Nations
2026-09-26 - England vs Spain
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Nations League Match Day 1
Saturday 26th September 2026 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV
England
Thomas Tuchel will have spent the last couple of months questioning his own tactical decisions from England's World Cup Semi Final defeat to Argentina, but it is also important to move forward. The manager looks like he is almost certainly going to be leading England into Euro 2028, which is hosted in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and Tuchel will hope he has learned enough to help England end what will be sixty-two years of hurt by the time the next major international tournament is played.
Performances in the Nations League can lay down a marker and England fans will do well to note the former winners of this competition and how that has led to success at 'bigger' tournaments. They returned to League A after heading a League B Group in the last running of the Nations League, but the one setback in that section was a 1-2 defeat to Greece.
England finished third at the 2026 World Cup thanks to a 6-4 win over France, but the single defeat in the last 10 games in all competitions was in that Semi Final against Argentina. The side have won 6 of the 7 home games played in Nations League and World Cup Qualifiers over the last couple of years, although the one exception was a defeat.
Declan Rice is the big withdrawal from the England squad, while Thomas Tuchel will know that there are going to be plenty of critics ready to pounce if England have a poor Nations League campaign.
Spain
Fifteen months ago, Spain reached the Nations League Final having produced some dynamic attacking performances, but they struggled with the balance at the back and eventually that saw them beaten by Portugal on Penalties after failing to hold onto the lead twice in normal time. Luis de la Fuente may have noted the issues as he helped Spain get back to basics at the last World Cup, which ended in a second success at that level.
At Euro 2024, Spain conceded just four goals in 7 matches played as they won that tournament, but they conceded just once in 8 matches this past summer to pick up a second World Cup title. They have won 5 of the 7 away games played in the last Nations League and World Cup Qualifying campaigns.
Spain are unbeaten in normal time in the last 38 fixtures played, although they have suffered a Penalty Shoot Out loss to Portugal in that run. The side won 6 of 8 World Cup Finals matches in normal time, while Spain have won 5 of the last 6 on their travels in competitive games.
Head to Head
A little over two years ago, Spain beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 Final.
Before that, England and Spain met in the 2018/19 Nations League Group Stage and both fixtures were won by the away team.
Spain have lost 1 of the last 4 fixtures played in England and have won twice in that time.
Prediction
Two of the final four teams at the last World Cup are meeting in the Nations League Group Stage and both England and Spain will be expecting to make it through to the Quarter Final.
Croatia and Czechia will have something to say about that, but England and Spain look too good for the pair of those.
However, the opening fixture of any Group Stage can become awkward with the likelihood being that neither team will want to begin with a loss. That can perhaps bring in some cautious play and the draw looks a real runner when these two teams meet at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
A narrow edge may have to be given to Spain who have shown they can win plenty of tough away games over the last couple of years.
Performances in the Nations League have been more convincing than England's, who had to earn Promotion from League B in the last running of the competition.
Spain have reached the Final in each of the last two editions of the Nations League and won one of those.
Strong away performances have been common place in Spain matches and they deserve the narrow edge in this opening Nations League fixture.
The World Champions may be able to largely contain the England threat and Spain always look capable of finding a goal or two, which makes them an appealing back in any 'Draw No Bet' market.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
England 0-1 Spain
