Luis Enrique's Spain was beaten by England in Seville in October 2018, and the manager had some notable things to say about the opposition afterwards.
The two nations have played out several memorable spectacles since then, including the 2024 European Championship final in Berlin, which Spain won 2-1, although Enrique was not in charge that night.
His comments about part of England's attack are worth revisiting, given how differently things have turned out for those involved.
Luis Enrique Dubbed England Trio 'World Class'
Spain had just conceded three goals at home in a competitive match for the first time in their history when Enrique explained the defeat to reporters (via Sky Sports):
“They came out on the counter with world-class players like Kane, Rashford and Sterling. The punishment was severe. We were not expecting to suffer that much.”
It was a specific observation about three players who had just torn Spain apart on the counter, and not a judgment on their careers as a whole.
The two countries met again last Saturday in the Nations League and this time it was the Spaniards who came out on top with a 3-2 win at Wembley. Given just one of the three players Enrique mentioned were in action, it is worth looking at where those three players have ended up since.
'World Class' Trio Impact on England in 2018
England had reached the World Cup semi-final in Russia four months earlier, and the Seville meeting was seen as a tougher test against a Spain side that had scored 12 goals in their previous three games and beaten England at Wembley the month before.
Raheem Sterling put England ahead in the 16th minute, finishing a move that started with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Marcus Rashford doubled the lead on the half-hour mark after Harry Kane found him with a pass, before Sterling struck again before half-time from a Kane knockdown. All three goals had Kane's fingerprints on them.
He had never previously registered two assists in a single England game, while Sterling had not scored for his country in three years and had never scored twice in one match.
Spain pulled two goals back in the second half through Paco Alcácer and a stoppage-time header from Sergio Ramos, but England held on to win in Spain for the first time since 1987.
Enrique's comment followed a remarkable sequence: three counter-attacking goals inside 22 minutes against a team that had barely been troubled all year.
How Kane, Rashford And Sterling's Careers Diverged
Kane was already England's main attacking outlet in 2018, directly involved in almost 40 percent of the team's goals under Gareth Southgate. He left Tottenham for Bayern Munich in 2023 for a Bundesliga-record fee.
Having scored 280 goals in 435 appearances without winning a major trophy. In Germany, he has continued to score at a similar rate, reaching his 100th Bayern goal in just his 104th appearance and winning the European Golden Boot twice.
He captained England to the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup, scoring six goals as the team finished third, their best finish since they won the tournament in 1966.
Rashford's career has taken a different path. His 30-goal season at Manchester United in 2022-23 was followed by a sharp decline under Erik ten Hag and then Rúben Amorim, including a period when he was left out of the squad entirely.
He then joined Aston Villa and Barcelona on loan, rediscovering his form in Catalonia alongside Lamine Yamal and Raphinha.
Barcelona chose not to make the move permanent before their 2026 deadline, so Rashford returned to Manchester United but still earned a place in England's squad for their run to the World Cup semi-finals. Sterling's decline has been the steepest.
He left Manchester City, where he had won four Premier League titles, for Chelsea in 2022, but struggled to hold down a regular place there. A loan to Arsenal did little to turn things around, and Chelsea terminated his contract in 2026.
He signed a short-term deal with Feyenoord, managed by Robin van Persie, ending a nine-month wait to return to competitive football.
He was left out of England’s 2026 World Cup squad, four years after scoring twice against Spain and being named the Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year.
What Happened To Luis Enrique Since
Luis Enrique’s career has taken a different path from Sterling’s. He left the Spain job in December 2022 after a last-16 penalty defeat to Morocco at the World Cup and took over at Paris Saint-Germain the following year.
Under Enrique, PSG won their first Champions League in 2024-25 before retaining the trophy in 2025-26 with a penalty shootout win over Arsenal in Budapest. The two titles took Enrique’s total to three, including his 2015 triumph with Barcelona.
Only Pep Guardiola, Bob Paisley, and Zinedine Zidane have also won the European Cup three times as coaches, while Carlo Ancelotti leads the list with five. PSG extended Enrique’s contract through to 2030 in September 2026.
England and Spain meet again in the Nations League this month, with Luis de la Fuente now in charge of Spain and Thomas Tuchel leading England.
