Tuchel: England have a plan for Spain

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Thomas Tuchel revealed England “have a plan” to defeat Spain in their Nations League opener on Saturday.

The Three Lions host the world champions at Wembley Stadium in both of their first matches since the World Cup in the summer.

Spain lifted the trophy for the second time in their history after defeating Argentina 1-0 in the final, while England beat France 6-4 in the third-place play-off – their best finish at the tournament since 1966.

Luis de la Fuente’s side are unbeaten in each of their last 38 matches in all competitions (W29 D9), the longest-ever such streak by a European nation.

Tuchel conceded England will have their work cut out against Spain and believes La Roja’s possession-based style is a disadvantage for his side.

“I think it is an advantage in general. Not only against us, but against everyone,” said Tuchel.

“This is how they play. I think they rely on that. This is how they train and they were brought up. This is clearly part of them.

“But at the moment, I think the more you analyse Spain and their last matches they played in, you have to admire the way in which they defend. They added this to their game.

“It is so difficult for every single team in the world to create chances against them. We have a plan, and we have ambition, and we want to prove the opposite.

“We want to be the exception to the rule, but at the moment they are a very complete team.”

— England (@England) September 24, 2026

England have won just two of their last 13 games against the reigning World Cup holders, losing nine times (D2); those wins came at home to Spain in November 2011 (1-0) and away to Germany in March 2016 (3-2).

Spain have also won six of their last nine meetings with England across all competitions (D1 L2), most recently winning 2-1 in the final of the 2024 European Championship.

England winger Anthony Gordon previously stated the Three Lions must play to their own strengths, but captain Harry Kane believes they can mirror Spain’s style if needed.

“I get what he’s saying,” Kane said about Gordon’s comments. “It’s culture for Spain, playing a certain style from five, six or seven years old until they’re professionals. In England, it’s not so much like that.

“It doesn’t mean we can’t play under pressure or keep the ball. We still have a lot of amazing technical players – but we have a lot of strengths that they don’t have; physicality, pace and power.

“They way we press and win duels, a lot of Premier League style football in a way.

“I think at our best we combine both. We’re not just a team that play like Spain, but we have a lot of strengths that we can showcase.”

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