Spain are through to the World Cup semi-finals after substitute Mikel Merino struck a dramatic late winner to seal a 2-1 victory over Belgium at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on 11 July, setting up a blockbuster last-four clash with France.
Belgium arrived at the quarter-final already severely undermanned. Captain Youri Tielemans was forced off during the warm-up with a hamstring problem, leaving head coach Rudi Garcia to hand Hans Vanaken an emergency start in central midfield. It compounded the loss of Amadou Onana to a ruptured ACL earlier in the tournament, meaning Belgium faced the biggest game of their campaign without two of their most important players in the engine room. Kevin De Bruyne inherited the armband and shouldered the responsibility throughout.
Spain, with Fabian Ruiz preferred to Pedri in midfield, controlled the opening exchanges with their familiar brand of precise, suffocating possession football. The breakthrough arrived on 30 minutes through a move of simple efficiency. Pedro Porro combined with Dani Olmo down the right before cutting back from the byline, Courtois could only parry Olmo’s shot, and Ruiz reacted quickest to sweep home the rebound. Lamine Yamal, making his sixth World Cup appearance before his 19th birthday, grew increasingly influential as the half progressed, twice going close with curling efforts, while Jeremy Doku offered Belgium their most reliable counter-attacking outlet despite struggling with his final ball.
Belgium’s equaliser arrived against the run of play in the 41st minute and was a goal of genuine quality. De Bruyne slid a pass wide to Timothy Castagne, whose curling cross was met by a perfectly timed run from Charles De Ketelaere, the striker outjumping Pau Cubarsi to head past Unai Simon. The goal ended Simon’s extraordinary run of 650 consecutive minutes without conceding at World Cup finals, an all-time record for the competition. It was De Ketelaere’s third goal of the tournament, following his brace against the United States in the last 16. Doku then wasted a glorious opportunity to put Belgium ahead deep into stoppage time, choosing a pass over the obvious run when through on goal, allowing Spain’s covering defender to intervene.
Garcia reshuffled his bench early in the second half, throwing on Romelu Lukaku and Axel Witsel as Belgium looked to steal the tie, while De la Fuente responded with Pedri and Ferran Torres as Spain attempted to restore control. The game opened up considerably, with De Bruyne testing Simon from range and Yamal twice forcing Courtois into smart saves. Belgium’s situation worsened on 71 minutes when Courtois, already receiving treatment, left the field in tears, his tournament over. The Real Madrid goalkeeper, 34, may have played his last World Cup match. Manchester United’s Senne Lammens, winning only his third senior cap, came on as replacement in the most daunting of circumstances.
The decisive moment arrived with two minutes remaining. Cubarsi struck a low, long-range effort that Lammens got down to but could not hold, the ball squirming loose into the path of Merino, who had been on the pitch for less than two minutes. The Arsenal midfielder reacted instantly and drove the rebound into the net. It was his third decisive goal in major tournaments for Spain, following his extra-time header against Germany at Euro 2024 and his stoppage-time winner against Portugal in the previous round. Belgium’s Alexis Saelemaekers rounded Simon late on but could not find Lukaku in front of an open goal, and Spain held on comfortably.
The victory extended Spain’s winning run at this World Cup to five consecutive matches, their longest streak since six straight victories carried them to the title in 2010.
La Roja face France in Dallas on 15 July. Belgium are eliminated, their campaign defined as much by injury misfortune as by the moments of quality that carried them further than most expected.
