The match was refereed by Belgian John Langenus, considered the best referee in the world at the time, and who would referee the first World Cup Final in 1930. Spain won the coin toss and chose for England to play the first half "into the winds with the sun at their backs". The match kicked off at 17:00GMT in front of a crowd of what was officially estimated at 45,000, but believed to be more, though Wilson writes that the match commenced at 17:05GMT as the Spain players were late out. The first chance went Spain's way, their left-winger Yurrita hitting the post early on. Though accounts differ as to the precise minutes and scorers of the opening goals, England's right-winger Adcock set up two English goals in quick succession, using skill to beat a defender before centring the ball on both occasions; the Spanish media reported that inside-forward Carter and centre forward Bradford scored the goals, while the consensus among the English press was that Carter had scored both goals. Unbeknown to everybody but himself, Spain goalkeeper Zamora injured his sternum when he accidentally collided with his own teammate, the halfback Peña, in the build-up to the first goal. 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, the latter goal described by English newspaper "The Times" simply as "a brilliant shot".