Thomas Tuchel Confident England Can Beat World’s Best Teams

England's Spain Defeat Highlights Costly Errors, Says Tuchel

By News Desk On Sep 28, 2026

LONDON: (Sports Desk) – Thomas Tuchel remains confident that England can overcome the world’s best teams despite suffering a 3-2 defeat against Spain after surrendering a second-half lead.

England appeared on course for a major victory after taking a 2-1 lead into half-time, but Spain turned the match around after the break.

England also had an opportunity to extend their advantage when Harry Kane stepped up for a penalty, but his effort struck the woodwork.

Defensive mistakes played a major role in Spain’s comeback. Marc Guehi was dispossessed by Lamine Yamal in the build-up to Spain’s opening goal, while a misplaced pass from Nico O’Reilly contributed to Alex Baena’s equaliser.

Mikel Oyarzabal then completed Spain’s comeback with the winning goal, repeating his match-winning feat from the Euro 2024 final between the two sides.

The defeat means England have won only six of their last 16 matches against teams ranked in FIFA’s top 10.

Tuchel, however, said the result did not reflect his team’s overall performance and insisted England had created enough opportunities to win the contest.

“Details matter at this level,” Tuchel said, while acknowledging that England made too many costly mistakes and that Spain were more composed and clinical when presented with opportunities.

The England manager had been under scrutiny over defensive-minded substitutions in previous matches, including the team’s World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina after surrendering a lead.

Against Spain, England adopted a more attacking approach in an open and entertaining contest. Tuchel nevertheless acknowledged that his side still needs to develop greater consistency across a full 90 minutes.

“We will keep on pushing this team,” he said, adding that England had already demonstrated during the World Cup that they could compete successfully in major tournaments.

England will now turn their attention to a demanding run of fixtures, facing the Czech Republic twice and travelling to Croatia over the next 10 days.