James Trafford Starts In Goal For England Against Spain At Wembley

James Trafford will start in goal for England against Spain at Wembley Stadium, with Thomas Tuchel saying the goalkeeper has earned two consecutive matches before Jordan Pickford returns for the other two fixtures.

Trafford gets the call at Wembley

Kick-off is fast-approaching at Wembley Stadium for England’s Nations League match against Spain, and Tuchel’s team selection has made the goalkeeping decision the central pre-match talking point.

England’s starting XI is Trafford, Quansah, Konsa, Guehi, O’Reilly, Anderson, Lewis-Skelly, Saka, Bellingham, Gordon and Kane.

England’s substitutes are Pickford, Steele, Alexander-Arnold, Scott, Chalobah, Hall, Branthwaite, Rogers, Garner, Calvert-Lewin, Gibbs-White and Eze.

Tuchel said, “James gets two consecutive matches because he deserves it.”

He added, “Pickers gets the other two matches. It was amazing to see how Jordan Pickford received the message and his reaction to it.”

Sky Sports reported that Tuchel clarified Trafford will be given two successive matches in England’s goal before handing the gloves back to Pickford.

Tuchel stressed that Pickford has not been dropped “as such”, but said he wants to see Trafford put to the test.

The change is a rare interruption to Pickford’s run as England’s goalkeeper.

Pickford has started in 46 of the past 54 England games since the 2022 World Cup.

Trafford played 90 minutes against Uruguay in March and came on at half-time in the World Cup warm-up against New Zealand.

Sky Sports described this match as Trafford’s most substantial test of his international credentials since his “magnificent 2023 U21 Euros campaign”.

This will also be back-to-back games Pickford has missed, after Dean Henderson went in goal for the third-place play-off against France at the World Cup.

Henderson is missing from this camp due to injury.

This summer, Pickford became the England goalkeeper with the most-ever World Cup appearances, with 19 appearances at the showpiece surpassing Peter Shilton’s total.

Pickford has 91 caps for England since his debut in 2017.

Tuchel says England need a ‘complete performance’

Tuchel said England want to “prove a point” against Spain, but warned that beating the World Cup winners at Wembley will require a “complete performance”.

“We need a complete performance if we want to have a chance to beat Spain,” Tuchel said on Friday.

“We want to be the team to beat them and we want to prove a point,” he said.

Tuchel also made clear he does not want England to simply imitate Spain.

“I don't see the value in copying Spain and think the copy can be better than the original,” he said.

“I don't see the true point in it. That does not mean we ignore what they are doing well,” Tuchel said.

In a separate comment reported by The Guardian, Tuchel said he hoped his side “became for 10 minutes more like Spain” to comfortably dominate possession when pressure was high.

The Guardian’s live coverage argued that becoming like Spain for that kind of spell may be a “fine aspiration” in some situations, but said that approach is not likely to help England unlock Spain’s backline.

The same report described Spain as “the pass masters” and said they cannot be toppled that way.

Tuchel has also said English fans and players prefer chaos, and The Guardian suggested that preference may point towards England’s route against Spain.

“There is no heritage of: ‘Oh, let’s control around the middle line. Let’s do a deep buildup and then bring them out’,” Tuchel said.

“It’s just like: ‘Come on. Let’s kick the ball into the opponent’s box and fight with them’,” he said.

The Guardian wrote that this is how England can beat Spain, while noting that it requires “a little more nuance” than Tuchel’s summation, “but not much”.

Spain arrive as the benchmark side

Spain enter the Wembley match as European champions and world champions, and Tuchel described them as “the team to beat”.

“They are the European champions, the world champions. They are the team to beat,” Tuchel said.

“They are on an incredible run of unbeaten games, only conceded one goal in the World Cup,” he added.

“We have some questions to answer. We want to be the first team to find the answers to these qustions,” Tuchel said.

Spain produced what Sky Sports called a “near-perfect tournament in North America” to lift the World Cup, remaining unbeaten and conceding only one goal on the way to the trophy.

The Guardian reported that Spain conceded one goal in eight games on the way to winning the World Cup.

Spain allowed opponents 2.37 expected goals in that run, a figure The Guardian described as “a mere 0.30 per 90 minutes played”.

Luis de la Fuente’s side are unbeaten since March 2024 and have not lost a competitive match since a 2-0 defeat to Scotland in March 2023.

The Guardian noted that the two defeats Spain have suffered in the Luis de la Fuente era both occurred in the UK.

That context explains why Tuchel framed the match not just as another Nations League fixture, but as a chance for England to answer questions against the most demanding opposition.

The challenge, as The Guardian put it, may be “the hardest challenge in international football, maybe at any level of the game”: trying to score against Spain.

England’s midfield and full-backs face major tests

Sky Sports described England’s attacking quartet as a “first-choice front-four” and asked whether Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon can hurt Spain.

The same analysis noted that all four have started their respective seasons encouragingly.

The midfield, however, was identified as the area where “the real battle” could be fought.

Sky Sports said Elliot Anderson and youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly, in the absence of his club mate Declan Rice, will have to get the ball off Rodri and company and keep it.

Jarell Quansah gets the nod at right-back ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Sky Sports said Quansah will have “a real task on his hands” with Nico Williams.

Nico O’Reilly has what Sky Sports called “the daunting challenge” of containing Lamine Yamal.

Trafford was described as “a surprise selection ahead of Jordan Pickford in goal”.

The England shape therefore carries several points of scrutiny: a changed goalkeeper, a midfield asked to compete with Spain’s ball control, and full-backs facing two dangerous wide players.

Spain name Rodri, Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres

Spain have named a starting XI of Simon, Garcia, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Rodri, Ruiz, Olmo, Lamine Yamal, Williams and Torres.

Their substitutes are Raya, Martinez, Huijsen, Grimaldo, Merino, Fermin, Pino, Pubill, Baena, Zubimendi, Pedri and Oyarzabal.

Lamine Yamal and Rodri start for Spain.

Spain have made three changes from the side that started the World Cup final.

Ferran Torres, the match-winner against Argentina, has been introduced as the central forward following his electric start to the season with new club Paris Saint-Germain.

Sky Sports noted that Torres leads the line after scoring the winning goal in the World Cup final.

Athletic Club’s Nico Williams starts on the left.

Williams scored Spain’s opener against England in the Euro 2024 final.

Lamine Yamal retains his starting spot on the other side.

Sky Sports described Lamine Yamal as a Ballon d’Or contender who “will surely dazzle on the wing”.

Rodri captains Spain and was described by Sky Sports as a “masterful midfielder”.

Mikel Oryarzabal and Alex Baena drop to the bench.

Eric Garcia starts at right-back amid the absence of the injured Pedro Porro.

Sky Sports said the world champions arrive at Wembley with a starting XI “packed with talent”.

Nations League stakes and group picture

England and Spain are in Nations League Group A3 with Czech Republic and Croatia.

The four nations will play each other twice during the league phase.

The league phase concludes in the November international break.

The group winners and runners-up will advance to the quarter-finals, which will be played in March.

Successful nations will then play in the Nations League finals to battle for the trophy in June.

Third and fourth-placed sides will be at risk of relegation to League B.

Portugal are the current holders of the Nations League.

That structure gives the Wembley match significance beyond its immediate appeal as a meeting between England and Spain.

It is also an early test in a group where finishing position determines whether teams move towards the quarter-finals, remain on course for the finals, or face relegation risk.

Withdrawals and Palmer question add to England backdrop

A number of high-profile England players, including Cole Palmer, have withdrawn from the squad for this international break.

Tuchel was asked about the Chelsea star in his Friday press conference.

When it was put to him that Palmer does not seem desperate to play for England, Tuchel responded: “It's hard to argue against what you're saying.”

That exchange formed part of the wider England build-up, with Tuchel already facing selection debates before the match against Spain.

The England manager’s decision to start Trafford ahead of Pickford has sharpened that debate.

The choice of Lewis-Skelly in midfield and Quansah at right-back has also drawn attention in the Sky Sports coverage.

Fans question selection calls

Sky Sports carried comments from supporters reacting to Tuchel’s line-up and recent England performances.

One comment said, “Tuchel didn't show any bravery against Argentina.”

The same comment added, “All the friends I talk to are very disappointed about getting to [a World Cup semi-final] and playing like we played.”

“I think it’s probably full here tonight because we want to see what he is going to bring. The semi-final was disappointing, massively disappointing,” the comment said.

A user identified as JayJay said they were “Not too concerned about the goalie” because “It's not like we have genuine world-class options.”

JayJay added that they would have liked to see Lewis Hall, Trent Alexander-Arnold or Morgan Gibbs-White get a chance to show their quality.

A user identified as Arrows18 asked, “Why not give Gibbs-White, Hall, Alex Scott, and Jarrad Branthwaite a start see what they do? No fear! Can't be worse than the last game...”

Steve W said Jordan Pickford started the season “in great form”.

Steve W also said it felt as though Tuchel was treating the match “as a bit of a friendly” by starting Trafford as goalkeeper and Myles Lewis-Kelly in the middle.

Steve W added, “I worry for our full backs; I just hope we manage to see some attacking intent. Hard to do so if we can’t win the ball back!”

James Oku questioned Myles Lewis Skelly starting as the No 6 and said he would “much rather have Adam Wharton in there”.

SteveG said that when Kobbie Mainoo dropped out, he was surprised Adam Wharton was not asked to join.

“He’s one of the best midfielders we have; he can thread a ball through the tightest of defences,” SteveG said.

SteveG added, “I know Morgan Gibbs-White took the space, but I like Wharton.”

Buckly said they guessed Tuchel had gone for Trafford “based on having the ball at his feet”.

Buckly added that “a goalkeeper's primary job is keeping the ball out the net” and said they do not feel Trafford is “a dominant keeper” when watching him.

Con5 said, “If we were playing a low-ranked team, I’d be all for keeper rotation but how on earth do you drop Jordan Pickford!?”

Bono said, “England will never win anything until they drop Harry Kane and give other strikers the chance.”

The comments show how Tuchel’s selection has split attention between the immediate test against Spain and longer-running questions about England’s style, personnel and tournament approach.

Real Madrid links add another layer

Sky Sports noted that Real Madrid trio Jude Bellingham, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen were chatting on the Wembley turf.

Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold are in the England camp, while Huijsen is listed among Spain’s substitutes.

Sky Sports asked whether it will be the England boys or their Spanish team-mate who get the win and bragging rights back at the Bernabeu.

The club connection is a smaller subplot, but it reflects the quality gathered across both squads for the Wembley fixture.

The central question: can England find a way through?

England’s biggest footballing task is to find a way to score against a Spain side that has been exceptionally difficult to breach.

The Guardian framed the match by saying England are about to face “the hardest challenge in international football, maybe at any level of the game” because they are going to try to score against Spain.

Spain’s World Cup numbers underline why that framing matters.

They conceded one goal in eight games on the way to winning the World Cup and allowed just 2.37 expected goals in that run.

Sky Sports also reported that Spain remained unbeaten and conceded only one goal en route to glory in North America.

For Tuchel, the answer is not to produce a copy of Spain, even if he admires what they do well.

For The Guardian, England may need to lean into a more direct, disruptive and chaotic approach rather than trying to beat “the pass masters” at their own game.

For England’s players, the immediate task is more concrete: Trafford must justify a rare opportunity, Quansah and O’Reilly must handle elite wide threats, Anderson and Lewis-Skelly must battle Rodri and company, and the front four must give Spain’s defence the test Tuchel wants.

Tuchel’s own message was that England need to follow the plan throughout.

“We need to stick to the plan from the first minute to the last minute,” he said.