Merino Fires Spain Past Belgium into World Cup Semi-Finals
Spain booked their place in the semi-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a dramatic 2-1 victory over Belgium, with substitute Mikel Merino scoring a late winner to set up a heavyweight clash against France.
Luis de la Fuente’s side secured the hard-fought quarter-final triumph at Los Angeles Stadium thanks to goals from Fabian Ruiz and Merino, ending Belgium’s impressive run in the tournament.
Ruiz, handed a surprise start ahead of Pedri, gave Spain the lead in the 30th minute after reacting quickest to a rebound following Thibaut Courtois’ save from Dani Olmo.
Spain had dominated possession during the opening stages, with Lamine Yamal also coming close after cutting inside and firing narrowly wide.
Belgium responded just before half-time through Charles De Ketelaere. Kevin De Bruyne’s incisive pass released Timothy Castagne down the right, and the defender delivered a precise cross for De Ketelaere to head past Unai Simón and level the score.
The contest remained evenly balanced until the closing stages, when Belgium suffered a significant setback as goalkeeper Courtois was forced off injured in the 71st minute.
His replacement, Senne Lammens, was unable to hold a powerful long-range effort from Pau Cubarsí, allowing Merino, who had only recently entered the match, to pounce on the rebound and fire Spain into the lead in the 88th minute.
The victory extended Spain’s unbeaten run to 36 matches, equalling Argentina’s streak between 2019 and 2022 and leaving them just one game short of Italy’s record 37-match unbeaten run achieved from 2018 to 2021.
Belgium’s equaliser also ended goalkeeper Unai Simón’s remarkable run of 560 consecutive World Cup minutes without conceding a goal, surpassing the previous tournament record of 517 minutes set by Italy’s Walter Zenga at the 1990 World Cup.
Spain winger Lamine Yamal was named the FIFA Player of the Match after another influential performance that helped drive his side into the last four.
