Thomas Tuchel offers verdict in battle for England’s No 1 spot

England manager Thomas Tuchel refused to get drawn into debates around his starting goalkeeper after James Trafford helped the Three Lions to a famous win over Spain in Madrid.

Tuchel’s side put on a superb display at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, with Harry Kane opening the scoring from the spot before Ezri Konsa broke free to nod in from a corner when unmarked early into the second half.

The Three Lions were in dreamland not long after, with a superb team goal ending with Ben White sliding an accomplished finish in for 3-0 in the 58th minute.

However, the game changed just after the hour mark, with Elliot Anderson bringing down Lamine Yamal as the last man. The England midfielder was sent off, and Mikel Oyarzabal scored his spot-kick to get Spain back into it.

It felt like groundhog day for England as Nico Williams scored a second for La Roja in the 75th minute, though the Three Lions clung on to secure a 3-2 win, inflicting the world champions’ first defeat in 43 games.

And while Trafford had little to do before the red card, he was called into action plenty of times in the final stages of the game, making several important stops.

Nevertheless, Tuchel was coy when asked whether the youngster’s performance was enough to make him England’s no. 1.

“There’s no number one. It’s a good double save. That’s what we wanted. He had a brilliant match. It only works if you’re top from number one to 11,” said Tuchel after full-time.

Tuchel was referencing two brilliant late stops from Trafford to deny Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal in stoppage time. The latter particularly stood out, with the Leeds keeper recovering from the first stop in a matter of seconds to get across and tip the rebound past the post.

Trafford’s display will fuel debate over whether he should take Jordan Pickford’s place as England’s starting goalkeeper, with eyebrows raised when Tuchel decided to drop the Everton keeper ahead of facing the world champions.

Pickford has previously been the undisputed choice in goal and the veteran started England’s last three games, though it was Trafford who was in goal at Wembley for the 3-2 loss to Spain in September, as well as for the win over Czechia a few days later.

In any case, it gives Tuchel a welcome selection headache, and we are likely to discover who the German sees as his number one in March when the Nations League quarter-finals take place.

England’s win means they finished top of Group A3, and they will face one of the second-placed teams in the next round, with the likes of Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark potentially waiting in the last eight.

The draw for the next round takes place on Friday, 20 November, with the matches taking place between 25 and 30 March 2027.