Joker Merino scores the winning goal against Belgium in the final moments

Mikel Merino sent Spain to the World Cup semifinals against France after a hard-fought match. In the 2-1 (1-1) quarterfinal victory over Belgium, the Arsenal substitute scored the winning goal in the 88th minute, securing Spain’s first trip to the final four since winning the World Cup 16 years ago. At Los Angeles Stadium, Fabián Ruiz (30') had scored the 1-0 goal for the European champions. Merino had already scored the winning goal in the round of 16 against Portugal.

Belgium tied the game at 1-1 (41') thanks to Charles De Ketelaere, becoming the first team in the XXL World Cup to score against Spain's goalkeeper, Unai Simon. His record-breaking streak of clean sheets thus came to an end after 649 minutes, but Spain now faces a blockbuster matchup against France—a clash of the tournament favorites—on July 14 in Dallas.

Spain’s coach, Luis de la Fuente, benched Pedri in front of numerous celebrities—including actors Brad Pitt, Penélope Cruz, and Javier Bardem—among the 70,492 spectators, and started Ruiz instead. The Paris Saint-Germain player repaid the faith shown in him by scoring the 1-0 goal, tapping in from about seven meters out. Thibaut Courtois had previously been able to parry only a shot by Dani Olmo and then had no chance on the follow-up.

Belgium Struggles with Injuries

Spain was thus rewarded for its significantly greater share of the play, better scoring chances, and overwhelming possession against the Belgians, who had a slow start to the tournament and didn’t put on a convincing performance until their 4-1 victory over co-host the United States in the Round of 16. After just a quarter of an hour, Spain had already completed twice as many passes as Belgium, which had to cope with the last-minute loss of Youri Tielemans.

Lamine Yamal and his teammates are celebrating wildly: Spain is in the semifinals.

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The 29-year-old Aston Villa midfielder was injured during warm-ups and was replaced by Hans Vanaken of Club Brugge. Kevin De Bruyne also returned to the lineup; he hadn’t played at all in the 4-1 win over the U.S. However, Jeremy Doku had the biggest impact on Belgium’s play; as the third change to the starting lineup, he repeatedly caused trouble for the previously rock-solid Spanish defense with his dribbling.

The Belgian No. 11 was also involved in the equalizer; the ball eventually found its way to De Ketelaere via De Bruyne and Timothy Castagne. His header ended Simon’s streak of not conceding a goal after 649 minutes. The Spaniard had already broken the World Cup record held by Italy’s Walter Zenga (517 minutes) in the Round of 32 against Austria.

Lukaku's substitution was met with loud cheers

Spain continued to dominate possession after the break and created good scoring chances, such as the one by Lamine Yamal (52'), whose shot whizzed past the near post by just a few centimeters. But even before Romelu Lukaku’s loudly celebrated substitution after an hour, Belgium was repeatedly making dangerous forays into the opponent’s penalty area. Maxim De Cuyper, for example, fired a shot that missed the near post by just a few centimeters (55th minute).

In the 71st minute, Courtois had to be substituted due to a thigh injury in his 21st World Cup match; he is the goalkeeper with the most World Cup appearances after Manuel Neuer (23). Replacing the Real Madrid goalkeeper was Senne Lammens of Manchester United, whom his teammates spared from having to make any saves for a long time despite Spain’s continued heavy pressure. But on the first dangerous shot, Lammens made a mistake. He couldn’t hold onto Pau Cubarsi’s shot—Merino pounced to score the decisive goal.