Spain and England will battle it out for the top spot in the group in the last league game of their UEFA Nations League campaign on Sunday at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
Spain vs England – Match preview and team news
- Date: Sunday, 15th November.
- Kick-off: 7:45pm BST.
- Venue: Riyadh Air Metropolitano, Madrid.
Spain team news
Spain have received a major boost with star winger Lamine Yamal returning to full fitness after recovering from the knee inflammation that ruled him out of Thursday’s 2–0 victory over Czechia, though manager Luis de la Fuente has not confirmed whether he will start from the outset.
Striker Mikel Oyarzabal has also shaken off a recent illness and is expected to feature, while Nico Williams and Aymeric Laporte remain doubtful after battling the same bug.
Left-back Alejandro Grimaldo was forced to withdraw from the squad on Saturday after developing a fever. Meanwhile, La Roja remain without injured midfielders Rodri (hamstring) and Dani Olmo, as well as defender Eric García.
Winger Ander Barrenetxea also pulled out earlier in the international camp with a thigh injury, prompting De la Fuente to call up Jorge de Frutos as a replacement ahead of the decisive group-stage finale in Madrid.
England team news
England manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that James Trafford will start in goal ahead of Jordan Pickford as part of an ongoing goalkeeper rotation for the trip to Madrid.
The Three Lions are bolstered by the return of centre-back Ezri Konsa and full-back Djed Spence, both of whom resumed full training after missing Thursday’s 2–1 win over Croatia.
At the same time, left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly is available again after serving a one-match suspension. However, Marc Guéhi withdrew from the camp with a hip injury—replaced by Dan Burn—and winger Bukayo Saka was left out of the November squad entirely with a quadriceps issue.
Elsewhere, Jude Bellingham avoided a booking against Croatia and is cleared to feature in his club city. Tuchel is also weighing whether to start Jarell Quansah over Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back for extra defensive stability, and whether to hand teenager Rio Ngumoha his full debut.
Form
Spain
Spain enter this showdown in unstoppable form, sitting atop Group A3 with a perfect 15 points from five matches and extending their record unbeaten streak across all competitions to 43 games. Following their World Cup triumph over Argentina in July, La Roja opened their Nations League campaign with a thrilling 3–2 victory over England at Wembley before beating Croatia twice (4–1 and 2–1) and defeating Czechia 3–1 at home and 2–0 away.
England
England arrive in Madrid in strong form, sitting second in Group A3 on 12 points with four consecutive victories following an opening 3–2 defeat against Spain at Wembley. Thomas Tuchel’s side responded impressively by beating Czechia 2–0 away, thrashing Croatia 7–0 in Zagreb, and blanking Czechia 3–0 at home. Most recently, a late Harry Kane penalty secured a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Croatia at Wembley to keep their hopes of topping the group alive.
Predicted lineups
Spain: Simon; Porro, Cubarsi, Huijsen, Cucurella; Ruiz, Pedri; Yamal, Lopez, Baena; Oyarzabal
England: Trafford; Alexander-Arnold, Konsa, Burn, Hall; Anderson, Rice; Rogers, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane
How to watch Spain vs England?
In the UK, Spain vs. England will be broadcast live and free-to-air on ITV1 (STV in Scotland) and streamed online via ITVX.
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