England host world champions Spain in Nations League opener - all to know

Who: England vs Spain What: UEFA Nations League 2026-27, Group A3 match Where: Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom When: Saturday, September 26, at 7:45pm (18:45 GMT) How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up and live updates from 15:45 GMT. England begin their new Nations League campaign with a heavyweight home fixture against the reigning world champions, Spain.

La Roja, the 2023 Nations League winners, are looking to add a second title to their collection, having also finishedrunners-upto Portugal in the last edition in 2025. England, on the other hand, enjoyed their best result in the inaugural 2019 edition, finishing third.

They return to League A this time after winning Group B2 in their previous appearance. Competing in the top division of the structured competition, Croatia and Czechia are the other teams in Group A3 with England and Spain.

What is the UEFA Nations League? The UEFA Nations League was founded in 2018 to reduce the number of meaningless friendlies and give nations competitive matches against equally-ranked teams.

In this competition, countries from across Europe participate in a league structure, which features promotion and relegation. England vs Spain: Predictions Opta's supercomputer has handed Spain a 40.2 percent probability of victory, while England have a 33.6 percent chance of winning.

The odds of a draw stand at 26.2 percent. When did England and Spain last meet?

Spain have won six of their last nine meetings with England. England and Spain last met at the UEFA Euro 2024 final, in which goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal handed La Roja a 2-1 championship victory.

That result marked a record-breaking fourth European crown for Spain. England vs Spain: Head-to-head Matches: 28 England wins: 13 Spain wins: 11 Draws: 4 England vs Spain: Form guide (Last five games, latest results first) England: W-L-W-W-W Spain: W-W-W-W-W Which are the top players to watch?

Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham (England): All English hopes will once again rest on captain and Ballon d'Or frontrunner Harry Kane of Bayern Munich, who recently became the fastest player to 100 German Bundesliga goals. Elsewhere, attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham has made an impressive start under new Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, producing three goals and three assists in seven La Liga appearances.