Spain Advances to World Cup Semi-Finals with Late Winner

Mikel Merino stepped off the bench and into Spanish World Cup folklore, striking a late winner as Spain broke Belgian resistance in a tense 2-1 quarter-final and booked a semi-final showdown with France in Dallas on Tuesday.

For so long, this felt like the night Belgium’s fading Golden Generation might drag the story on for one more chapter. Instead, it was Spain’s depth, control and cold-blooded efficiency that carried the day.

Spain’s control, Belgium’s punch

Spain, the European champions, arrived with the weight of history at their back. Six consecutive World Cup clean sheets, the first team ever to do so. A side that rarely dazzles but almost always dictates.

They did it again here.

On the half-hour, the pressure broke Belgium’s line. Dani Olmo burst through and lashed a shot that seemed destined for the corner until Thibaut Courtois flung out a strong hand. It was a superb save, the kind that has defined his career. But the ball dropped into danger and Fabian Ruiz reacted first, sweeping the rebound home to give Spain the lead.

Spain settled into their rhythm, passing and probing, dragging red shirts across the pitch. It looked ominous for Belgium.

Then came the punch back.

With four minutes left in the first half, Timothy Castagne found space on the flank and whipped in a teasing cross. Charles De Ketelaere attacked it with conviction, rising between defenders to power his header past Unai Simon. One chance, one ruthless finish. Belgium were level at 1-1 and suddenly alive.

Courtois forced off, Spain stay relentless

Belgium carried into this quarter-final the swagger of a 4-1 demolition of co-hosts United States in Los Angeles and the belief forged in a comeback from two goals down against Senegal in the last 32. This was supposed to be the last big tilt for Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and the remnants of a generation that changed Belgian football.

They hung on every tackle. Every clearance felt like defiance.

But the night turned on a moment no one in Belgium wanted to see. Midway through the second half, Courtois signalled he could not continue. The goalkeeper, so often their shield, trudged off and handed his gloves to Senne Lammens.

Spain did not ease off. Luis de la Fuente’s side rarely rush, rarely panic. They just keep coming.

Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona prodigy with only one goal in five games at this tournament, stretched the pitch. Mikel Oyarzabal, already on four goals including a brace in the 3-0 dismantling of Austria in the last 32, kept asking questions of a tiring back line. Belgium, legs heavy, retreated deeper.

Merino’s moment

The clock ticked towards extra-time. Spain’s passes still snapped, but the finish was missing. Belgium looked ready to drag the contest into another long night, just as they had against Senegal.

Luis de la Fuente made one last attacking roll of the dice, sending on Mikel Merino in the 86th minute.

Two minutes later, the substitute changed everything.

Pau Cubarsi stepped forward and drilled a low strike through a crowd of bodies. It was firm but straight at Lammens. The replacement keeper went down to gather, but the ball squirmed loose. Merino, alive to the mistake, pounced first and slammed it in.

Spain’s bench erupted. Belgian players sank to their knees. A single lapse, a single rebound, and the Golden Generation’s last stand was slipping away.

There was no grand final surge from Belgium, no late twist. Spain, as they have throughout this World Cup, managed the closing minutes with icy composure, squeezing the life out of the game with the ball at their feet.

France await, Belgium left to wonder

Spain now head to Dallas to face France, a heavyweight semi-final between two nations built for this stage, one with a ruthless defensive record, the other with tournament scars and pedigree of their own.

Belgium go home with the harsh clarity of knockout football. De Bruyne, Lukaku and their peers carried a nation to new heights over the past decade, but the World Cup that might have crowned them has slipped away for good.

Spain, still not always thrilling, still relentlessly efficient, march on. France are next. The margin for error, as Belgium just discovered, is shrinking by the minute.