Thomas Tuchel reveals key reason why England beat Spain in ‘best performance’ of his tenure

The German has been in charge of the Three Lions since January 2025 and guided them to third place at the World Cup in the summer, their highest finish in the competition since their only title in 1966.

That included memorable wins against Croatia, DR Congo and Mexico. Last month, in the Nations League, England inflicted upon Croatia the heaviest defeat in their history as they thrashed Slaven Bilic’s side 7-0 in Rijeka.

But Tuchel admitted he views Sunday’s 10-man victory over the world champions in Madrid as the finest performance during his time at the helm.

Harry Kane, Ezri Konsa and Ben White scored for the Three Lions as they ended the world champions’ 43-game unbeaten streak despite conceding twice in the second half. It secured England top spot in their Nations League group ahead of Spain.

Winning feeling: Thomas Tuchel

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“Brilliant performance,” Tuchel told ITV after the game. “A well deserved win. Overall we were the better team. Fantastic performance from start to finish.

“It was a complete performance. We brought everything to the table. We were brave. Spirit-wise, energy-wise and also football quality was highest level.

“We deserved it. We focused on our performance and attitude. I can’t praise the team high enough for what they put out there.”

Speaking about how England dug in defensively once Spain had scored their second goal, Tuchel said: “Half an hour feels like two hours against a team like this [with 10 men]. That’s the way it is. Without the red card we were clear winners.”

Asked what England showed, he replied: “What we are made of and what we can do. We are always ready to push our limits. We had our best result in 60 years [at the World Cup] and we weren’t happy with it. It’s impressive what we did in the last two camps.”

When asked whether it was England’s best performance under him, he replied: “Under the circumstances against who and where we played, yeah.”