Manager Thomas Tuchel will remind England's players of Uefa's anti-racism protocols before Sunday's Nations League fixture against Spain in Madrid. The match will be England's first in the Spanish capital since a notorious fixture at Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium in 2004, which was overshadowed by racist chanting aimed at England players.

The Spanish federation was fined last month and ordered to play its next friendly match with a partial stadium closure after fans sang "Islamophobic and xenophobic" chants about Muslims during a game against Egypt. Tuchel said the squad had held a similar discussion before the Serbia game in Belgrade in September 2025. "There is a protocol in place," he said. "Maybe we take our five minutes to inform the players about the protocol if there is a precedent in Madrid."S1S2

Uefa, the organiser of the Nations League, has a three-step protocol to handle discrimination inside stadiums, designed to give referees the power to halt matches and even abandon games if racist behaviour continues. Referees first halt the match and request an announcement on the public address system. If discrimination persists, the game can be stopped for five to 10 minutes and the players taken from the field, and if issues continue after that second stoppage, the game can be abandoned.S1S2

Sunday's fixture takes place at Atletico Madrid's home, the Metropolitano. A victory would ensure England win their Nations League group and earn a more favourable quarter-final draw, but world champions Spain are unbeaten in 43 matches, including a 3-2 win at Wembley in September. Tuchel said England must match the intensity they showed at home, attacking and imposing their physical strength, adding that Spain "is a team that has forgotten how to lose" and that a top performance would give his side a big boost. "I think we're there, and I think we're ready to win on Sunday," he said.S1S2