Kane's penalty shocker as history repeats for England against Spain's 'sexy football' in five-goal thriller

Spain beat England 3-2 in a roller-coaster UEFA Nations League match at Wembley Stadium that turned on an unusual penalty miss from England captain Harry Kane. Kane's fellow Ballon d'Or contender Lamine Yamal gave Spain the lead inside two minutes after capitalising on an error from defender Marc Guehi before slotting the ball past James Trafford, who was a surprise selection ahead of veteran Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

But England recovered from that setback and eventually drew level on 36 minutes through a great team goal finished off by Anthony Gordon, who brought his strong club form with Barcelona to the international stage. Four minutes later the home side were in the lead thanks to a Kane header, but there was more drama centring on Kane after half time after Jude Bellingham was fouled in the box by Spain captain Rodri.

Kane stepped up to take the penalty but slipped just as he was about to kick the ball, and his subsequent spot kick crashed against the bar. The referee eventually awarded a free-kick to Spain for a 'double touch' as replays showed Kane had touched the ball with his left foot before hitting it with his right.

According to Gordon, if the penalty had gone in (without a double touch), England would have gone on to win. We came out for the throat, for the kill, and we did that.

He never really misses so we'll let him off with that one." It sparked memories of England's loss to France in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final, another instance of a 'what if' moment based around a Kane penalty miss.

There were more echoes of history to come, though, as Spain stormed back into the clash thanks to substitutes Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal. Just minutes after Kane's spot kick shocker, Baena scored the equaliser, and he then turned provider to set up Oyarzabal to score the winner, just as he did in the Euro 2024 final against England.

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"They're the world champions and European champions… "Mikel Oyarzabal was never going to miss. He was always in control of the situation.

"Honestly, people talk about sexy football, that is sexy football. I would watch that all night.