Spain secured a place in the World Cup semifinals with a 2 to 1 victory over Belgium in Inglewood, California. The win ended a wait for a final-four appearance stretching back to the country’s 2010 title-winning campaign. It also ended Belgium’s tournament and set up a semifinal against France, a pairing anticipated since the draw.
Fabián Ruiz opened the scoring in the 30th minute, and Charles De Ketelaere equalized in the 41st, scoring the first goal Spain had conceded at the tournament. The decisive moment came in the 88th minute: Mikel Merino, introduced two minutes earlier, scored with his second touch after Belgium goalkeeper Senne Lammens failed to control Pau Cubarsí’s long-range effort. Merino acknowledged the element of luck in the goal.
The late winner extended Merino’s run of decisive contributions. He had also scored in stoppage time to give Spain a 1 to 0 win over Portugal in the previous round, ending Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup career. Spain entered the knockout stage on a 35-match unbeaten run. Head coach Luis de la Fuente called Merino “one of the best in his position worldwide” and praised him for producing “a fantastic result and a fantastic goal.”
Spain’s starting lineup included Unai Simón; Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte and Marc Cucurella; Rodri and Fabián Ruiz; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo and Álex Baena; and Mikel Oyarzabal. Compared with the previous round, Fabián Ruiz replaced Pedri in midfield. Belgium’s plans were disrupted when captain Youri Tielemans suffered an injury during warmups, while Amadou Onana was unavailable. Thibaut Courtois then left the match with an injury in the 71st minute, bringing on Lammens for his first World Cup appearance.
Before kickoff, a minute of silence honored the victims of the fire in Almería, where the article reported at least 12 people had died and 23 remained missing. The gesture reflected the impact of national tragedies on major sporting events. Spanish broadcasters have previously adjusted programming for impressive national moments, including TVE's schedule change for the Spanish Civil War anniversary.
Spain’s win marked its first semifinal appearance since lifting its only World Cup in 2010. De la Fuente has also stressed the value of contributions from the bench, saying, “The contribution in other games has been enormous.” Merino’s immediate impact against Belgium put that depth on display as Spain advanced to face France.
