With another late goal from "super" sub Mikel Merino, Spain reached the 2026 World Cup semifinals by defeating Belgium 2-1 on Friday in Los Angeles, setting up a thrilling showdown against France.
اضافة اعلان
At the spectacular SoFi Stadium in front of 70,000 spectators, Fabian Ruiz scored for the European champions in the 30th minute, followed by the substitute Merino in the 88th minute. Charles De Ketelaere scored for Belgium in the 41st minute. The win sets up a heavyweight final-four clash against France—the 1998 and 2018 champions—who defeated Morocco 2-0 on Tuesday in Dallas.
Spain dominated most of the match despite a quiet performance from young star Lamine Yamal. Meanwhile, Belgium paid a heavy price after captain Youri Tielemans was injured during warm-ups, Amadou Onana sat out with an injury, and giant goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was forced off late in the game. Courtois' replacement, Senne Lammens, made a critical error that cost his country the tournament.
The quarterfinal round concludes on Saturday with matches featuring England against Norway in Miami, and defending champions Argentina taking on Switzerland in Kansas City.
This marks Spain's first semifinal appearance since 2010, the year they won their sole World Cup title.
"It is an honor to coach a team with this level of commitment and desire to improve," Spain's manager Luis de la Fuente said. "It is fair to believe we can beat France. We are the only team that has managed to defeat them twice. It is going to be a matchup of two giants."
The match kicked off at 12:00 PM Pacific Time in 24°C (75°F) weather under a bright sun that the transparent roof of the Inglewood stadium could barely soften. The stands were painted red—the signature color of both teams—but the Spanish fans clearly dominated, roaring whenever La Roja held possession or created a chance.
"It feels like a coincidence"
Spain had waited until the dying moments to eliminate neighbors Portugal in the round of 16, when Arsenal midfielder Merino came off the bench to score the lone goal in stoppage time. He repeated the feat here, scoring the winner just two minutes after entering the pitch.
"It feels like a coincidence," Merino commented. "But if you enter the game prepared, it can happen again. I am extremely happy. I doubt it will happen a third time, but we will see."
De la Fuente made only one change from the lineup that faced Portugal, dropping Pedri to the bench for the first time in a major international tournament with Spain, and starting Ruiz alongside captain Rodri in midfield.
For Belgium, veteran captain Kevin De Bruyne returned after missing the win against the United States. Midfielder Amadou Onana's tournament had already ended due to a knee injury, while Tielemans was hurt during the pre-match warm-up.
Spanish Dominance
Spain dominated possession in the first ten minutes, which featured a shot by Yamal that went just wide of the post. They maintained their superiority until the 30th minute, translating it into a goal when Courtois parried a shot from Dani Olmo into the path of Ruiz, who scored with the help of a deflection.
Despite Spain's dominance, their fears materialized. From a rare Belgian attack down the right flank, full-back Timothy Castagne delivered a cross. Charles De Ketelaere positioned himself perfectly ahead of Pau Cubarsí and headed it past Unai Simón in the 41st minute. It was the first goal conceded by Spain in five matches.
In the second half, Spain showed a clearer intent to score to avoid an unpredictable extra time or penalty shootout, but Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois pulled off brilliant saves. The Spanish pressure left them vulnerable to Belgian counterattacks, which posed threats to Simón's goal.
The turning point came twenty minutes before the end of regulation when Courtois went off with a left thigh injury, replaced by Lammens.
The substitution heavily impacted the outcome. Two minutes after coming on, Lammens failed to cleanly catch a long-range shot by Cubarsí, spilling it directly to Merino, who repeated his heroics from the Portugal match.
"Since the start of the tournament, I've played a lot of long balls over 70 and 80 meters," Courtois said. "At some point, the body just gives out. I couldn't send long balls anymore, but shot-stopping wasn't an issue. I made my three saves while feeling that pain. The coach makes the decisions. I wanted to continue, but he made his choice knowing I wasn't at 100%."
Belgium's manager, Domenico Tedesco, stated: "Losing Youri (Tielemans) right before kick-off, Thibaut (Courtois) getting injured, and Kevin (De Bruyne) being unable to finish the match... luck wasn't on our side. But we looked Spain in the eye. They doubted themselves for a moment when we equalized. Big games are decided by tiny details."
Belgium had delivered their best performance in the round of 16 by crushing co-hosts United States 4-1 in Seattle. Before that, in the round of 32, they staged one of the greatest comebacks in tournament history, trailing Senegal 0-2 until the 86th minute before turning the tables to win 3-2 after extra time.
"Against this type of opponent, you can't gift them anything," Tedesco added. "I won't blame the players who made mistakes. These are lessons for our youngsters. I am proud of our players who proved that Belgium is a top team in this World Cup. When I started, the goal was to get the backing of the entire country—all 12 million fans. We achieved that, and I hope it continues."
Reuters
