The World Cup final England could have had but, on this evidence, there would still have been the same champions.

At the very least, Thomas Tuchel has been reminded of the real level that is going to be required to potentially win at this very stadium on 9 July 2028. Might this 3-2 Spain victory even provide a preview?

A significant positive, if also a different kind of problem, is that England did considerably up it from a lot of the World Cup. It was instructive that there were no boos at the end. This had been an entertaining evening of Nations League football at Wembley.

The spell either side of half-time was probably the team’s best attacking performance since those 20 minutes against Croatia. That was illustrated in how they scored twice, doubling the number of goals that Spain conceded throughout all eight games of the World Cup. That wasn’t the only aberration from this Nations League opener. Harry Kane missed a first England penalty since France in the quarter-final of the 2022 World Cup, that could have trebled that stat.

The fact England actually came from behind when the world champions had the advantage of a lead to play their football made it all the more admirable.

Spain could have been out of sight early on. England, and particularly the Clasico duo of Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon , just kept thundering into their rear-view mirror.

The problem was that level was nowhere near enough to fully match Spain. Having been given a jolt, and having to re-assess, Spain just reasserted their football. Their second and third goals, that served to turn around the match for the second time, were all the clean angles and technical excellence you would expect of this team.

Alex Baena found the corner of the net as if it was a pass. Mikel Oyarzabal sumptuously lifted the ball over James Trafford after another exquisite possession exchange.