LONDON, September 26 — The gates at Wembley swing open Saturday for a fixture that nearly happened three months ago and didn’t: England against Spain, the reigning World Cup champion, in the Group C opener of the UEFA Nations League. It is the headline match on a crowded international calendar, according to a schedule compiled by Jon Arnold of USA TODAY and published by Yahoo Sports on September 26, 2026. Spain arrives as world champion.
England, which missed out on a showdown with Spain in the World Cup final, gets its meeting with the Spanish side anyway — this time with Nations League points at stake rather than a trophy. The framing of the day is a return.
The 2026 World Cup hosts and two teams that finished in the top three of that tournament all play for the first time since the summer.
Three fixtures, one Saturday
The England-Spain opener is listed across multiple outlets — USA TODAY Sports, The Sporting News, The Guardian and The Big Lead among them — all pointing to a Saturday kickoff at Wembley. Elsewhere on the same date, the United States men’s national team plays Peru in an international friendly, with Athlon Sports and The Guardian carrying kickoff time, TV channels and live stream options. Canada faces Chile in a second friendly, listed by Athlon Sports with lineups, predictions, kickoff time, broadcast details and head-to-head record.
The Yahoo Sports schedule page also carries keyword tags for the Concacaf Nations League, the African Cup of Nations, the Nations League and the England team, indicating additional confederation fixtures on the day’s calendar.
What the day is — and isn’t
This is a schedule-and-viewing guide, not a results report. No scores, attendance figures or match outcomes are available, and none should be expected from the preview material. Related Yahoo Sports video content, uploaded September 23, 2026 and running one minute and twenty-eight seconds, features Arnold arguing that recruiting dual nationals must become a bigger priority for Mauricio Pochettino as he looks to elevate the USMNT.
For England and Spain, the wait ends Saturday at Wembley. For everyone else, the day offers a first look at how the World Cup’s top sides carry their summer form into the autumn.
