BBC News, English Go to content Main Watch Listen Main sections News Economy Health and Science Culture and Arts World Cup 2026 Investigations News Economy Health and Science Culture and Arts World Cup 2026 Investigations World Cup: Merino Eliminates Belgium and Puts Spain Against France in the Semifinal Photo credit, Reuters
With a late goal from super-sub Mikel Merino, Spain reached the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup in football, winning 2-1 against Belgium on Friday in Los Angeles.
At the stunning SoFi Stadium in front of 70,000 fans, Fabian Ruiz (30) and substitute Merino (88) scored for the European champion, while Charles De Ketelaere (41) netted for Belgium, setting up a fiery semifinal against France, which defeated Morocco 2-0 on Tuesday in Dallas.
Spain dominated most of the match without the effectiveness of its young star Lamine Yamal, while Belgium paid the price for the injury of its midfield captain Youri Tielemans during warm-up and the absence of injured Amadou Onana, followed by the departure of their towering keeper Thibaut Courtois at the end of the match, as his replacement Seny Lammers made a costly error that led to their elimination.
This is Spain's first semifinal qualification since the 2010 edition when it won its only title in history.
Trump confirmed he asked FIFA to review the decision to suspend American striker Balogun against Belgium.
The quarter-finals conclude on Saturday with matches between England and Norway in Miami, and Argentina, the defending champion, against Switzerland in Kansas.
The match took place at noon Pacific time in the United States with a temperature of 24 degrees Celsius, under a bright sun that the transparent roof of the stadium in Inglewood barely alleviated.
The stands were draped in red, the color representing both teams, but the Spanish presence was overwhelmingly evident, as cheers rose every time "La Roja" gained possession or created a chance.
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Spain had waited until the last moments to eliminate its neighbor Portugal in the round of 16, after Arsenal's forward Merino came off the bench and scored the only goal of the match in stoppage time of the second half. He repeated the feat once again by scoring the winning goal just two minutes after being substituted on.
Prior to that, they topped their group with a draw against Cape Verde (0-0), and wins over Saudi Arabia (4-0) and Uruguay (1-0), before easily beating Austria 3-0 in the round of 32.
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Belgium put up its best performance in the round of 16, crushing host nation the United States 4-1 in Seattle.
Before that, coach Rudi Garcia's team drew with Egypt in the opening match (1-1) then drew with Iran (0-0) before sealing qualification with a big win over New Zealand 5-1.
In the round of 32, they achieved one of the best comebacks in the tournament's history, having been down 0-2 to Senegal until the 86th minute before turning the tables and winning 3-2 after extra time.
The "Temple and Cathedral" of football, "Azteca" is the only stadium to host three World Cup tournaments.
Luis de la Fuente made just one change from the lineup that faced Portugal in the round of 16, as he benched Pedri for the first time in an international tournament with Spain, with Fabian Ruiz joining captain Rodri in the midfield.
For Belgium, veteran captain Kevin De Bruyne returned after missing the win against the U.S. Midfielder Amadou Onana suffered a knee injury that ended his tournament, while Tielemans was injured during warm-up, leading Hans Vanaken to drop into a deeper midfield role, with Jeremy Doku replacing Dodi Lukebakio on the wing.
Spain controlled the ball for the first ten minutes, which saw a shot from Yamal go wide of the post, continuing its dominance until the 30th minute when it translated that into a shot from Dani Olmo in the area, presented by Courtois after he barely saved it on a silver platter for Ruiz, who scored with the help of the defense.
After a free-kick from Yamal forced Courtois to dive awkwardly to save it (35), Barcelona's talent toyed with the defense in his area...