England 2-3 Spain: Harry Kane reveals Man City charges "discussion" after fatal Marc Guehi, Nico O'Reilly mistakes

England captain Harry Kane has confirmed that a "discussion" took place between Three Lions players over Manchester City's seismic guilty verdict before their UEFA Nations League defeat to Spain.

Kane's record-extending 86th goal for his country proved meaningless on Saturday evening, as England lost 3-2 to Spain in their 2026-27 Nations League opener at Wembley.

Thomas Tuchel's side turned the tide through Kane and Anthony Gordon after Lamine Yamal's second-minute opener, but Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal struck in the second half to propel the world champions to victory.

Yamal and Baena's goals both came from mistakes from Man City players, as the former robbed Marc Guehi of possession in the England defensive third, before Nico O'Reilly passed the ball straight to Dani Olmo to tee up Baena.

Guehi and O'Reilly's gaffes led to suggestions that the Man City contingent were affected by Friday's mammoth ruling, which saw Man City found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges levied against them by the Premier League.

Harry Kane confirms England "discussion" over Man City charges

Kane was asked by ITV Sport whether the Citizens players could have been impacted by the verdict, but the Bayern Munich striker insisted that despite an inevitable conversation, international football was the sole focus.

"There was a discussion, but at the end of the day when we're with England, that's been a big plus for us, we kind of put club football to one side, and it was no different this week," The Standard quoted Kane as saying.

As well as O'Reilly and Guehi's errors, ex-Man City midfielder Rodri - who expressed confidence in Man City's innocence before the game - committed a needless penalty, which Kane missed, by tripping Jude Bellingham.

Tuchel was also asked by the media whether the Man City verdict distracted his players, and the England manager admitted that it would have been difficult for the Man City-linked crop to completely ignore the ruling.

"Not for me but I can imagine for the Manchester City players," Tuchel told reporters. "For the players who have more time than me, for sure I can imagine they talk about it."

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak released a statement shortly before England's loss to Spain, insisting that the club remain entirely confident of their innocence while the appeals process gets underway.

Was Man City ruling to blame for England defeat?

The fact that Guehi, O'Reilly and Rodri all made uncharacteristic errors after one of the biggest off-field bombshells in football history makes it hard to argue that the 115 charges verdict did not have a bearing on Saturday's result.

Uncertainty is still looming over whether Man City will be successful with an appeal, and what sporting sanctions they could face if they fail to overturn the verdict, from stripped titles to expulsion from the Premier League.

However, England cannot chalk up yet another dampening defeat to circumstances out of their control, as Spain's control proved superior to the Three Lions' chaos, which was reflected in the statistics.

Spain generated 3.12 Expected Goals to England's 1.74 and also registered six big chances to England's three, highlighting the gap between the Three Lions and the world's best.

Nevertheless, Tuchel made an extraordinary "dominated" claim as the Three Lions now prepare to face Czechia on Tuesday.