When England take on Spain in their opening Nations League match on Saturday, it will be tinged with a feeling of 'what could have been' for Three Lions fans. The Wembley match comes three months after England agonisingly missed out on the chance to face La Roja in the World Cup final, having lost to Argentina in the last four. That would have been a repeat of the 2024 Euros final, which England also lost.
In fact, their record against top-10 sides leaves much to be desired. In their past 15 matches against sides ranked in the top 10 in the world - according to Fifa's rankings - England have won six matches. Three of those wins were at major tournaments - the Euros semi-finals in 2021 and 2024 against Denmark and the Netherlands, and the bronze-medal match against France at this summer's World Cup.
The victory over Les Bleus to take third place was Thomas Tuchel's first win as England boss over a top-10 opponent. And his first win over opposition ranked inside the top 20 came in their opening group game at the tournament against Croatia. So do England have a problem against top-10 opposition?
Six wins in their past 15 games against top-10 opponents are not the kind of numbers an England team with the ambition of winning major tournaments can be happy with. Two of those wins meant the Three Lions advanced to the Euro finals of 2020 and 2024. One was in the World Cup match no one wants to play in, two were Euro qualifying matches against an Italy side already on a sharp decline and one came against Belgium in a Nations League match six years ago.
To put it simply, when faced with really elite opposition, England continue to stumble. Particularly at the World Cup. England have been eliminated every time they have faced a top-10 ranked nation in the knockout stages of the World Cup since 1998 - seven times out of seven.
In their past 10 World Cup games against sides ranked in the top 10, their sole win came in the 2002 group stage against Argentina. When faced with the defending world champions at the World Cup, they have lost on all four occasions. England have fared better at the Euros, overcoming top-10 opponents in Denmark and the Netherlands to reach the final at the past two tournaments but ultimately falling at the final hurdle on both occasions against Spain (2024) and Italy (2020).
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