Their first matches against continental European sides resulted in high-scoring victories, but after World War I the gap in quality eventually narrowed, due in part to England's insularity and failure to evolve, as well as the increase in skill and innovation throughout Europe.

Though England were favourites and in good form going into the match, the standard of Spanish football was greatly improving due to the influence of expat English coaches such as Atlético manager Fred Pentland, who at the time was assisting the Spain national team, as well as the recent professionalising of the sport, which included the creation of La Liga.

Spain came back into the match and levelled the score, goals from Gaspar Rubio and Jaime Lazcano making it 2–2 shortly before the half-time interval.

The British press gave little coverage to the result, while those in the Spanish media were enthusiastic about Spain's performance and doubtful as to the quality of the English players.

[12][13] Though England were achieving positive results, their performances were attracting the attention of critics such as James Catton, who wrote in Athletic News in 1923 that "unless players get out of the rut into which they have fallen, the game will lose its popularity and Great Britain her fame".

[14] Gabriel Hanot of L'Equipe saw threats to the English dominance from further afield, describing England as "farm horses" compared to the Uruguayan "Arab thoroughbreds".

[16] Arsenal forward Cliff Bastin was critical of the selection committee, saying they were "not particularly intelligent" as they favoured the talent of the individual rather than how they fit into the team.

[26] In May 1929, England had already achieved big victories over France and Belgium, winning 4–1 and 5–1 respectively,[1][10] their allies in World War I who they had begun playing on a near-annual basis.

[3] England's performance against France was deemed poor, with newspaper the Daily Sketch saying they "lacked speed and will have to play better if they are to beat Spain".

[3] The professionalism of football in Spain had brought an upturn in results and performances internationally;[22] in March they defeated Portugal 5–0 in Seville, and achieved a bigger victory against France than England had achieved, winning 8–1 in Zaragoza,[10][27] with Gaspar Rubio scoring a hat-trick against Portugal and four against France,[32] and Rubio told Royal Spanish Football Federation president Pedro Díaz de Ribera that he should be paid a bonus for each goal he scored against England.

[36] Spain's starting lineup had an average age of 24.5 years, and were captained by goalkeeper Zamora,[3][37] with Félix Quesada and Jacinto Quincoces in defence.

[10] In the middle was Martín Marculeta, with half-backs Peña and Pachuco Prats [es], in for Paco Bienzobas as Spain's only change from the France match.

[45] Though England were clearly the superior side, they dropped their guard, and in quick succession Spain scored twice, first through a header from centre forward Rubio, and then a 25-yard strike from right-winger Lazcano to go into the half-time break level at 2–2,[3][10] the latter goal described by English newspaper The Times simply as "a brilliant shot".

With the pitch cleared again, Zamora and fullback Quesada prevented two England chances late on,[10] ensuring a historic victory for Spain.

[48] In Spain, Mundo Deportivo said the win had been achieved through the heart of the players rather than their technique, and paid tribute to the performances of Boiburu, Lazcano, Prats, and Padron on the Spanish team, with praise also given to England's Peacock and Adcock.

[50] Spanish journalist Alfredo Relaño believes the former site of the ground should have a plaque memorialising the historic occasion and paying tribute to the 11 players.

[58] Quincoces, the standout defender at the 1934 World Cup,[59][60] would later successfully revolutionise the defensive tactical approach from the then-popular 2–3–5 in which he excelled, into the 4–2–4 and later the 4–4–2 formations when manager at Real Madrid and Valencia in the 1940s.

[62] With its false premium on rigid defence and the long pass, coaching became far more necessary, since such things as positional play and the art of ball control, neither indigenous to the type of game favoured by most British clubs, suddenly appeared no more than marginal.

The match would be the final cap for seven of the England lineup - Hufton, Kean, Hill, Peacock, Kail, Carter, and Barry never played for their country again.

[67] With the rest of the world now catching up to England, they were being sought out for friendlies on a regular basis, failing to defeat both Austria and Germany in 1930,[68] the match against the former directly lead to the FA stating they were "not in favour of granting permission to alien players to be brought into this country" when Arsenal attempted to sign goalkeeper Rudi Hiden, and the International Football Association Board wrote it into law the following year.