Spain reached the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-finals after defeating Belgium 2-1 in a hard-fought quarter-final at SoFi Stadium, Softfootball reportrs. Mikel Merino as soon as once more proved the hero, scoring the decisive objective late on after substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens spilled Pau Cubarsi’s long-range effort.
Luis de la Fuente’s choice to begin Fabián Ruiz paid off when the midfielder tapped residence after Thibaut Courtois denied Dani Olmo. Belgium responded earlier than the break as Timothy Castagne’s pinpoint cross was headed residence by Charles De Ketelaere, ending Spain’s outstanding 650-minute World Cup clean-sheet streak.
Belgium suffered a significant setback when Courtois was compelled off injured within the 71st minute, with backup goalkeeper Lammens unable to forestall Merino’s winner. The Purple Devils had been additionally with out captain Youri Tielemans after he was dominated out through the warm-up.
Spain prolonged their unbeaten run to 36 matches and can now face France in a mouth-watering semi-final after Les Bleus eradicated Morocco.
Participant Rankings
Spain
| Participant | Score |
|---|---|
| Unai Simón | 5.5 |
| Marc Cucurella | 6 |
| Pau Cubarsi | 6 |
| Aymeric Laporte | 6 |
| Pedro Porro | 6.5 |
| Fabian Ruiz | 7.5 |
| Rodri | 7.5 (Man of the Match) |
| Dani Olmo | 7 |
| Alex Baena | 6 |
| Mikel Oyarzabal | 6.5 |
| Lamine Yamal | 7 |
| Subs: Pedri | 6 |
| Ferran Torres | 6 |
| Nico Williams | 5.5 |
| Mikel Merino | 7 |
Belgium
| Participant | Score |
|---|---|
| Thibaut Courtois | 6.5 |
| Maxim De Cuyper | 6.5 |
| Brandon Mechele | 6 |
| Nathan Ngoy | 6 |
| Timothy Castagne | 7 |
| Nicolas Raskin | 6 |
| Hans Vanaken | 6 |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 7 |
| Jeremy Doku | 7 |
| Charles De Ketelaere | 7.5 |
| Leandro Trossard | 5 |
| Subs: Axel Witsel | 5 |
| Joaquín Sels | 5 |
| Romelu Lukaku | 5.5 |
| Senne Lammens | 4.5 |
| Alexis Saelemaekers | 5 |
Match Statistics
| Stat | Spain | Belgium |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 67.8% | 32.2% |
| Photographs | 17 | 5 |
| Photographs on Goal | 8 | 2 |
| Large Possibilities Missed | 0 | 0 |
| Corners | 5 | 1 |
| Correct Passes | 598 | 244 |
| Passing Accuracy | 89.9% | 77.7% |
| Yellow Playing cards | 2 | 2 |
| Purple Playing cards | 0 | 0 |
