Mikel Merino took advantage of a late error from substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens to send Spain into a World Cup semi-final with France and break Belgian hearts.
Lammens only came on at 71 minutes after Thibaut Courtois, one of the game’s finest goalkeepers, exited injured and in tears, with the Manchester United player spilling a shot from Pau Cubarsi 17 minutes later and Merino scoring with only his second touch of the game.
Belgium demolished USMNT 4-1 to reach the quarterfinals but lost key midfielder Youri Tielemans to an injury during the warm-up and fell behind when Fabian Ruiz pounced on a rebound on 30 minutes.
Lammens, on only his third Belgium appearance, tries to recover his error but can’t stop Merino (Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)
Spain had not conceded for almost 11 hours, but Belgium broke that run when a smart Kevin De Bruyne pass eventually led to Charles De Ketelaere planting a superb header past Unai Simon.
Belgium wanted a penalty when the ball struck Rodri’s arm in the box, but it had bounced off a team-mate at close range and was not given by referee Michael Oliver or on VAR review.
Courtois’ departure with what looked like a thigh injury was a hammer blow for Belgium, and while Lammens has impressed in his debut Premier League season with United, he could not hold a shot from Cubarsi. Merino reacted quickest to poke it home.
Spain will now play France in a World Cup semifinal in Dallas on Tuesday. The remaining quarter-finals between Norway and England, and Argentina and Switzerland will be played on Saturday.
Here The Athletic’s Phil Hay, Tim Spiers and Anantaajith Raghuraman break down the key moments.
Is France vs Spain the ‘real’ final?
So it’s France versus Spain in the semifinal of the World Cup in Dallas on Tuesday, a meeting of arguably the best two teams in the competition.
This seems to happen at every World Cup, a ‘final’ but played out an earlier stage.
It will be pitched as the unstoppable force of France meeting the immovable object of Spain. Didier Deschamps’ team undoubtedly possess the competition’s best attack, with Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Desire Doue forming a formidable front line that looks almost impossible for any defence to resist.
If anyone can, it’s probably Spain. The goal they conceded to De Ketelaere here was the first they had let in during the whole competition, after keeping five successive clean sheets against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Austria and Portugal.
There is also a school of thought that perhaps the best way to subdue or nullify France is by, well, not letting them have the ball and for all the magic of Lionel Messi and the gripping football of Argentina, Spain are, again, probably the best team in the tournament for that.
Either way it has all the hallmarks of a classic World Cup encounter. And the victor will be favourites to lift the trophy next weekend, regardless of who they face in the final.
Tim Spiers
How costly was Courtois’ injury?
As if no Tielemans or Amadou Onana wasn’t enough, Belgium saw Thibault Courtois succumb to what looked like an issue with his left thigh in the second half. He tried to push through it but gave up after the hydration break.
A tearful Courtois departs (Photo: Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Luis de la Fuente, the Spain coach, had categorised Courtois as one of the world’s top five goalkeepers beforehand. Belgium brought on Manchester United’s Lammens, who had a quality first season at Old Trafford but it still deprived Garcia of one of his biggest personalities and ultimately cost Belgium.
Courtois was in tears as he made way reluctantly, wiping his eyes on his shirt. He’s 34 and while top keepers tend to go onto towards and into their 40s, it’s fair to ask: how many more World Cups will he see (likewise with Kevin De Bruyne, who decimated Belgium further by exiting with cramp soon after)?
Courtois reacts after the Lammens error
And what happened? Lammens spilt the first proper shot he had to save, fumbling a Cubarsi effort from outside the box, and Merino — super sub for Spain and Arsenal — followed up to smash in the rebound, sealing the win as he did in the previous round against Portugal. It’s easy to say, but Courtois rarely makes errors like that.
Phil Hay
Should Belgium have had a penalty?
On the Rodri ‘handball’, the decision not to penalise him was not based on law but on guidance from FIFA and UEFA. The logic is that no player would make themselves unnaturally bigger or deliberately put their arm in an unjustifiable position to block a deflection from a teammate, especially in this case at such close quarters.
Rodri has no chance to avoid the ball hitting his arm. It’s the correct decision in terms of the spirit of the law and the letter of guidance to officials.
Refereeing expert Graham Scott
Did the decision to pick Ruiz pay off?
Luis de la Fuente’s decision to drop Pedri to the bench and start Fabian Ruiz for this game was a surprise. When fit, the Barcelona midfielder has usually been a guaranteed starter and while he has had a middling tournament, the expectation would have been for him to start against Belgium.
Ruiz, who was one of Spain’s best players in their Euro 2024 success, grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He helped Spain overload the left flank, allowing Alex Baena to wander all over the pitch and cause Belgium problems.
Pedri often stayed slightly withdrawn from the box to recycle possession and help Spain counterpress, but Ruiz was more positive with his positioning and that paid dividends in the 30th minute. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder showed great instincts and took advantage of some lax Belgium marking to score from the rebound after Dani Olmo’s shot was saved.
Ruiz celebrates after his opening goal (Photo: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)
Mikel Oyarzabal kicked the ball high into the stands in celebration without realizing Ruiz was asking for it but Ruiz promptly got another from behind the goal to celebrate with a baby tribute ahead of the birth of his first child.
He got into a few good positions early in the second half too but lasted just 10 minutes before being replaced by Pedri.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
Why was Tielemans missing and how much did it hurt Belgium?
Belgium’s midfield was already missing Amadou Onana before kick-off — a knee injury against the USMNT ended his tournament in the last 16 — so Youri Tielemans limping out of the warm-up today was a monumental blow.
Tielemans is every bit as essential as Onana in Rudi Garcia’s engine room and there was no suggestion of any issue as he came out to prepare with the rest of Belgium’s players. But a niggle in his hamstring during their practice routines left Garcia with no choice but to replace him with Hans Vakanen. There was very little to it — just a reach for the ball that tweaked the muscle, followed by him alerting a member of the backroom team.
Belgium captain Youri Tielemans was removed from the starting lineup after suffering an apparent injury in warmups pic.twitter.com/zlAu7dKliU
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 10, 2026
Onana and Tielemans are experienced Premier League footballers (as an aside, both play for Aston Villa, who could really do without this as the new English season looms). Vakanen, of Club Brugge, and Nicolas Raskin, of Rangers in Scotland, are solid pros but not of the same calibre, and if Spain were strong favourites before Tielemans’ setback, they were absolutely fancied once his absence was announced.
Garcia speaks a lot about having a starting line-up and a “finishing” line-up: a specific plan for how he intends to alter his team as a game develops. Romelu Lukaku, for example, is a player set to come off the bench to help Belgium close things out. Tielemans is a starter all day long, and the match-up was diminished without him.
Phil Hay
How did the referee stop Olmo?
Dani Olmo’s movement kept Belgium guessing, and not only them. Midway through the first half, he slipped into an attacking midfield area and shaped to feed the ball out to the left wing — before suffering a hefty body check from referee Michael Oliver.
Oliver apologises after blocking Olmo (Credit: Getty Images)
The collision, needless to say, was completely accidental and Oliver immediately halted play, raising his hands in apology. Olmo was less than happy to have encountered Oliver’s shoulder, but no real harm was done.
Phil Hay
