England looked to have turned Wembley into a night of redemption.
They had fallen behind almost immediately against Spain. They had been put under pressure. They had watched the world champions create chances and threaten to run away with the contest.
Yet somehow, Thomas Tuchel’s side fought back.
Anthony Gordon equalised.
Harry Kane then put England ahead.
And suddenly, Wembley was alive.
At 2–1, England had momentum. Spain were the team searching for answers.
Then came the moment that could have changed everything.
Jude Bellingham went down inside the Spanish penalty area after a challenge involving Rodri. The referee initially allowed play to continue, but a VAR review followed and the decision was changed.
England had a penalty.
Harry Kane stood over the ball.
The opportunity was enormous.
England could have moved two goals clear of the world champions.
Instead, the ball crashed against the crossbar.
And what happened afterwards has left the penalty itself under a completely different spotlight.
THE DECISION THAT STARTED THE DEBATE
The penalty decision did not arrive without controversy.
Bellingham’s fall came after contact with Rodri, but the referee initially decided that play should continue. VAR subsequently recommended a review, and referee Davide Massa went to the monitor before awarding England the spot-kick.
From England’s perspective, it was a huge opportunity.
From Spain’s perspective, it was a decision that immediately invited questions.
And now, a Spanish refereeing analyst has gone even further.
Iturralde González argued that the penalty should not have been awarded, claiming Bellingham went down before the contact with Rodri.
That assessment has added another layer to an already dramatic evening.
Because if the penalty itself becomes the centre of the conversation, England supporters are naturally going to look at what followed.
Kane missed.
Spain recovered.
And Spain won.
KANE HAD THE CHANCE TO CHANGE EVERYTHING
There was something almost cruel about the timing.
England had worked so hard to recover from their disastrous start.
Lamine Yamal had punished an early mistake to put Spain ahead inside two minutes.
For a while, it looked like England were heading towards another frustrating night against elite opposition.
But Gordon changed the mood.
Bellingham produced the pass.
Gordon finished.
Then Kane completed the turnaround before half-time.
Suddenly, England were leading 2–1.
And when the penalty arrived early in the second half, it looked like the moment when England could finally seize control.
Kane, one of the most experienced players in English football, took responsibility.
But his standing foot slipped.
The strike hit the crossbar.
And the chance disappeared.
THEN SPAIN TURNED THE SCREW
The cruelest part for England was what happened next.
Spain did not spend the remainder of the game feeling sorry for themselves.
They responded.
Álex Baena equalised in the 60th minute.
Fourteen minutes later, Mikel Oyarzabal completed the turnaround.
In the space of less than 20 minutes, England had gone from believing they could be 3–1 ahead to desperately trying to hold onto a draw.
The penalty miss had become a huge turning point.
But it was not the only issue.
England also had defensive problems, while Spain’s substitutes made an enormous impact.
Baena scored.
Oyarzabal scored.
And Spain walked away from Wembley with a 3–2 victory.
BUT WAS THE PENALTY REALLY THE BIGGEST ISSUE?
That is where the debate becomes interesting.
It would be easy to look at the scoreline and blame Kane’s miss.
After all, England were 2–1 ahead when the penalty was awarded.
Had Kane scored, England would have been three goals to one ahead.
But football rarely works that simply.
There was still plenty of time remaining.
Spain had already shown during the first half that they could create opportunities.
And after the penalty miss, England still had to defend their advantage.
Instead, Spain found another gear.
That means the penalty can be viewed as a major moment without necessarily being the only reason England lost.
The bigger question may be what England did after the moment passed.
BELLINGHAM’S ROLE ADDS ANOTHER LAYER
Bellingham was involved in one of England’s best moments of the night and one of the most debated moments.
His pass helped create Gordon’s equaliser.
Later, his involvement in the penalty incident put England within touching distance of a 3–1 advantage.
Yet the controversy surrounding the decision means his role in the incident is now being discussed almost as much as the penalty itself.
Was it a foul?
Was there enough contact?
Did Bellingham go down before the contact?
Those are the questions now being debated.
And because VAR was involved, the conversation becomes even more intense.
The technology exists to correct obvious mistakes and provide officials with another look at important incidents.
But when a decision remains disputed even after the review, the debate does not necessarily disappear.
Sometimes it becomes bigger.
ENGLAND’S NIGHT OF WHAT-IFS
There were several moments England will probably look back on.
The early defensive mistake that allowed Yamal to score.
The opportunities Spain created before England recovered.
The penalty.
Kane’s miss.
Baena’s equaliser.
Oyarzabal’s winner.
It was a game packed with turning points.
And that is why the penalty has become such a fascinating talking point.
Because England were not simply beaten.
They were ahead.
They had recovered.
They had the chance to extend their lead.
And they still ended up losing.
THE KANE MOMENT WILL BE REMEMBERED
For Kane, it was a particularly painful moment.
The England captain had already scored earlier in the match, heading his team into a 2–1 lead.
Then came the chance to score again.
Instead, the ball struck the crossbar.
Kane immediately looked towards his boot after the slip, visibly frustrated by what had happened.
There was no lack of desire.
There was no lack of responsibility.
He stepped forward when England needed someone to take the penalty.
But the execution went wrong.
And Spain punished England almost immediately afterwards.
That sequence is likely to dominate conversations around the match.
SPAIN’S RESPONSE CANNOT BE IGNORED
Yet England’s penalty controversy should not overshadow Spain’s response.
The world champions showed why they remain such a difficult opponent.
They were behind.
They were under pressure.
And they still found a way back.
Baena’s equaliser gave them belief.
Oyarzabal’s finish completed the comeback.
Spain’s victory also extended their unbeaten run to 39 matches, according to reports following the game.
That is significant because England were not facing an ordinary opponent.
They were facing a side capable of surviving difficult periods and punishing mistakes.
TUCHEL NOW HAS QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
For Thomas Tuchel, the result creates plenty to analyse.
England showed attacking quality.
Gordon scored.
Kane scored.
Bellingham produced moments of quality.
But the defensive errors and second-half collapse will be impossible to ignore.
England had the lead.
They had the penalty.
They had the chance to make the score 3–1.
Instead, Spain walked away with all three points.
The challenge for Tuchel will be ensuring that the disappointment does not become the defining story.
AND THEN THERE IS THE PENALTY QUESTION…
Perhaps that is why the controversy has arrived at such an interesting time.
Had Kane scored, the debate over whether England should have received the penalty might have been almost forgotten.
England would have been 3–1 ahead.
The result could have been completely different.
But because Kane missed and Spain subsequently scored twice, the penalty decision has been dragged back into the spotlight.
One controversial decision.
One missed penalty.
Two Spanish goals.
One dramatic comeback.
And suddenly, England’s defeat has become much more than a simple 3–2 scoreline.
WHAT IF?
That may ultimately be the question England supporters are left asking.
What if the referee had allowed play to continue?
What if VAR had not intervened?
What if Kane’s standing foot had not slipped?
What if the penalty had gone into the net instead of hitting the crossbar?
What if England had gone 3–1 ahead?
There is no way to know.
Football does not allow teams to replay the moments that might have changed everything.
What England have instead is the reality of a 3–2 defeat.
Spain came from behind.
Kane missed.
And now the penalty decision itself is being questioned.
For England, the next step is not to rewrite the result.
It is to learn from a night when they showed enough quality to turn the game around — but not enough control to keep Spain from turning it back again.
And that is what makes the Wembley defeat so frustrating.
England were not far away from a completely different story.
They were one penalty away from changing the entire mood of the night.
Instead, the crossbar, Spain’s response and the controversy surrounding the decision have combined to create one of the most talked-about moments of England’s latest campaign.
The question now is whether this will simply become another painful memory — or a warning England eventually learn from.