England fell to a 3-2 defeat to world champions Spain after surrendering a first-half lead in a pulsating Nations League clash at Wembley on Saturday.
Spain struck after just 107 seconds when Marc Guéhi's poor touch towards his own goal allowed Lamine Yamal to steal possession, race into the area and finish past James Trafford.
But the hosts responded in emphatic fashion. A blistering counter-attack ended with Jude Bellingham releasing Anthony Gordon after a superb one-two, and the Barcelona forward finished smartly from the edge of the area.
Thomas Tuchel's side were ahead just three minutes later. Harry Kane met a cross with a diving header which took a final touch off Marc Cucurella's chest on its way into the net.
Kane then passed up a golden opportunity to extend England's advantage eight minutes after the restart. Rodri was adjudged by VAR to have fouled Bellingham inside the area, but Kane slipped as he took the resulting penalty and struck the crossbar.
The Three Lions were made to pay. Nico O'Reilly surrendered possession and substitute Álex Baena drilled Spain level, before Mikel Oyarzabal raced onto Baena's pass and dinked over Trafford to complete the turnaround.
Spain tightened their grip on possession after retaking the lead and, despite England's late rally in stoppage time, held on to take all three points from an absorbing contest and open their League A campaign with victory.
Three conceded, but two gifted away
There is certainly no shame in conceding several chances, let alone three goals, to the best team in the world.
However, Spain's first two came thanks to the Three Lions doing the hard work for them -- losing possession deep in their own territory.
O'Reilly put his arms up in apology after his error invited Baena's equaliser, but it's difficult to believe that would have absolved the England defence from a Tuchel lambasting after the whistle, especially given how the hosts built back into the game afterwards.
"I think we had a terrible start," England boss Thomas Tuchel said to ITV Sport post-match. "The worst start possible, it makes it so difficult to be behind against this kind of team."
"After 10, 12 minutes, I think we were the better team, we still made two or three big mistakes, and conceded big chances, but overall, we were better ... I think it was our best 15 minutes after the whistle."
The German might well be wondering how the balance of control may have looked if Declan Rice was available, but the presence of the Arsenal man is unlikely to have prevented any individual errors.
Spain's third was as good as unstoppable, though, as the best side on the ball in the world cut England open effortlessly -- with their squad depth on show too as Baena found fellow replacement Oyarzabal to make it 3-2.
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England emerge with blocks to build on
While Tuchel said at the start of the international break that his side could be "more like Spain," he also affirmed that the side could "maybe buy into our strengths."
In a gloriously chaotic three-minute spell which put his team ahead in the first half, those strengths appeared self-evident: punish a poor touch, move the ball directly, and force an opening.
But Tuchel clearly does not want to solely create them on the break. Asked on ITV Sport if Gordon's goal provided a template, he responded bluntly: "The Anthony Gordon goal was a counter-attack. It was a ball win and a counter-attack."
"'[We] could have created more, if we were more clinical in the last 20 metres, because we had incredible amount of ball-wins ... I think we have 12 or 15 more ball-wins in the opponent's half than Spain, but we couldn't convert enough into chances and goals, because otherwise, we would have won the match.
"The effort was there, the quality was there, spells of the game were very, very good -- but the result doesn't prove it today."
"They were as good as us, we were as good as them," Gordon said post-match to ITV. "I don't think there is a gap, I feel like we're right there. If the penalty goes in ... We [likely] go on and win the game."
Tuchel has more than enough time to look to his wider squad with three games left in the break, with matches home and away against Czechia either side of a visit to seemingly perennial opponents Croatia.
Match line-ups
England: Trafford, Quansah, Konsa, Guéhi (Branthwaite 89'), O'Reilly, Anderson, Lewis-Skelly (Garner 70'), Saka (Gibbs-White 83'), Bellingham, Gordon (Rogers 70'), Kane (Calvert-Lewin 83').
Subs unused: Pickford, Steele, Alexander-Arnold, Chalobah, Hall, Scott, Eze.
Spain: Simón, Pubill, Cubarsí, Laporte, Cucurella, Rodri, Fabián (Merino 70'), Yamal, Olmo (Pedri 82'), Williams (Baena 55'), Torres (Oyarzabal 55').
Subs unused: Raya, Martínez, Huijsen, Grimaldo, García, Zubimendi, Fermín, Pino.
Snapshot
Key match stats
Spain are now unbeaten in 39 matches in all competitions -- the longest ever streak by a European team
Harry Kane has missed five of 31 attempted penalties for England in all competitions (excluding shootouts) -- the last was in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinal defeat to France. He had scored his last nine in a row
This is the first time England has conceded multiple errors leading to goal in a competitive match since a 3-1 Nations League defeat to the Netherlands in 2019
At 1 minute, 45 seconds, Lamine Yamal's scored the fastest goal in his career with club or country (all competitions.)
Jude Bellingham: Eight goal contributions in last seven games for England in all competitions (six goals and two assists), no other England player has more than six goal contributions in this span (Harry Kane: five goals, one assist)
Information from ESPN's Global Research contributed to this story.