INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Its tournament-long clean sheet is no more, but Spain remained full-sail, charting its course for its predestined match-up against the tournament co-favorite thanks to another bit of Mikel Merino magic.
Just two minutes after entering the pitch, the Arsenal midfielder again provided late heroics for La Roja, crashing the box to spike home a bobbled rebound from Belgian substitute keeper Senne Lammens in the 87th minute for the go-ahead marker in a 2-1 Spanish quarterfinal victory on Friday at SoFi Stadium.
Merino also scored Spain’s lone goal off the bench in their Round of 16 victory over Portugal.
“I believe in luck, but I don’t think this was luck,” Merino said through a FIFA translator. “If I have been able to score goals at key moments, it’s because I’m prepared to do it. You don’t have to expect my goals in the last minutes, but I’m prepared to do it.”
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Fabian Ruiz scored first for Spain off a rebound from Belgian starting keeper Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid, and Atalanta forward Charles De Ketelaere headed in Belgium’s tying marker in the 41st minute.
Belgium’s lone goal was the first given up by Spain and Athletic Bilbao keeper Unai Simón in this World Cup. Their tournament record shutout streak ended at 649 scoreless minutes.
“The record and the milestone are there. What was done was exceptional,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said through a FIFA translator. “It’s been decades since the last record was set. I think it’s going to be many many years before someone breaks his clean sheet record… It is no accident. Everyone works together. It is a team effort.”
This was Los Angeles’ final game in the 2026 FIFA World Cup with semifinals to come in Dallas and Atlanta, the third-place match in Miami and the Final in New York/New Jersey.
Spain, No. 2 in the world, will play tournament co-favorite France, No. 1 in the world, and Golden Boot leader Kylian Mbappé (eight goals, three assists) in the semifinals on Tuesday in Dallas.
“Everyone was waiting for this match to happen,” Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal said through a FIFA translator. “France and Spain are the two best teams in the World Cup, and we’re not afraid. We’re going to stand up to them.”
In just its second World Cup semifinal, Spain will seek its first trip back to the Final since winning the 2010 World Cup in South Africa–its only World Championship. France has made the last two World Cup Finals, including winning the 2018 title in Russia.
La Roja has faced border-rival France just once in World Cup play in a 2006 Round of 16 defeat in Germany, but the two nations most recent major tournament clash came just two years ago, when Spain defeated France in the 2024 European Championship semifinal. Spain is the reigning European Champions.
“It’s going to be a fantastic game,” de la Fuente said. “This is the Final before the Final.”
Belgium’s “golden generation” reached the quarterfinals in three of the last four World Cups with its best-ever finish coming with a third-place result in 2018 in Russia.
“I don’t think we have anything to be humiliated about,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said through a FIFA translator. “Things didn’t go our way. We lost our goalkeeper. We lost our captain. There were just too many things against us… When you’re coming up against a team of this caliber, you can’t give up anything easy.”
“My players sang from the songsheet I gave them. We needed Lady Luck on our side, and unfortunately, she was smiling at Spain and not Belgium.”
As they have all tournament, Spain dominated the possession early with calm control, but Belgium looked quite comfortable, keeping La Roja to the outside most of the half.
Spain got a couple early plays into the box, and 18-year-old Yamal flashed his skill a couple times at the net to no avail. The Spaniards finally broke through the Belgian lines in the 30th minute.
Yamal played Pedro Perro into the final third on a right-wing give-and-go, and Porro spotted Dani Olmo in the middle of the box. Olmo’s strike was stopped by Thibaut Courtois, but the rebound went directly to the foot of Fabian Ruiz, who pounded it home, 1-0.
That seemed like signed, sealed, delivered for Spain, who already held the World Cup record for shutout streak entering the match. However, the Belgians responded with their own flash in the 55th minute.
Leandro Trossard and Timothy Castagne interchanged at the top-right corner of the penalty area with a long attempt into the box blocked back to Trossard. Castagne went wide and got the ball back through a brilliant one-touch pass by Kevin De Bruyne, and Castagne’s cross found the head of Charles De Ketelaere just outside the goal box.
De Ketelaere, who scored twice against the United States in the Round of 16, brought this match level into halftime, 1-1.
Spain continued its on-ball dominance into the second half with wave after wave into the Belgian box. The Red Devils managed just a handful of dangerous forays into La Roja’s half of the pitch.
With Belgium’s net under constant threat, Courtois made four stops between the pipes but suffered a leg injury midway through the half. Manchester United keeper Senne Lammens took over in the 70th minute.
As the match tightened with every passing minute, Spain cut the tension at Lammens’ expense in the 87th minute.
With plenty of room provided outside the top of the penalty area, Pau Cubasi stepped in for a rocket shot that Lammens couldn’t corral as he followed the loose ball to the ground. After coming on as a substitute just two minutes prior, Mikel Merino crashed the net to pop in rebound for the go-ahead strike, 2-1.
“(De la Fuente) didn’t say much,” Merino said of when he was subbed on. “He said I was going to be No. 10 and at the end of the match, he said, ‘you’re incredible!’”
Belgium, forced to turn things up a notch in the dying minutes of the game, nearly got a gift in stoppage time.
Two minutes into the extra play, Doku played Alexis Saelemaekers past the aggressive goalkeeping of Simon, but Saelemaekers was at a sharp angle along the goal line. Saelemaekers attempted to play in front, but Martin Zubimendi played hero with a sliding block in the penalty area.
“The stars were not aligned,” Garcia said.
Spain now moves on for what should prove to be an all-time clash between the cool control of Spain against the rock and roll dynamism of France.
“We are one of the teams that everyone considers as a candidate to get to the final. France has exceptional potential, but so do we,” de la Fuente said. “The game will be very demanding. Very energetic. We’ll need to have the best version of ourselves. We’ll leave everything on the pitch.”