Spain 2–1 Belgium: Merino Strikes Late Again to Set Up France in the Semi-Final

Some players score goals. Mikel Merino ends matches. Two rounds after breaking Portugal in the 91st minute, Spain's midfielder produced the decisive moment again — an 88th-minute winner that settled the quarter-final everyone had circled as the neutral's dream, beat a magnificent Belgium 2–1, and booked the heavyweight semi-final of the tournament: Spain against France, July 14, for a place in the World Cup final.

The Passing Duel Delivered

Billed as a collision between Europe's two most fluent footballing sides, the match played out exactly that way — an hour and a half of pressing triggers, third-man runs and possession chess, with barely a wasted pass on either side. Spain struck first on the half-hour: the move ending with Fabián Ruiz arriving from midfield to finish, the reward for the patient control that has defined the European champions all tournament.

Belgium's answer took eleven minutes, and of course it ran through Charles De Ketelaere. The star of the round's most complete performance against the USA collected Timothy Castagne's pass and levelled on 41 — his third goal of the knockout rounds, and confirmation that Belgium's number ten has been the player of the tournament's second week. At the break the tie was perfectly poised, and the second half only tightened the grip: two elite midfields cancelling, two coaches trading pressing schemes, one goal always destined to decide it.

Merino, Again

As the match wore past the 85th minute, Belgium could have been forgiven for eyeing extra time. Somebody in the Spanish midfield had other plans — the same somebody as always. On 88 minutes Spain worked the ball into the box one final time and Merino arrived, unmarked by half a step, to steer home the winner. Against Portugal it was the 91st minute. Against Belgium, the 88th. No side in this tournament has mastered the dying minutes like Spain — and no player embodies it like their late-arriving midfielder.

Belgium threw everything at the final minutes, but Spain's control held. The final whistle ended the run of the round's form team — and confirmed the European champions as masters of the knockout art: win the middle, wait for the gap, strike late.

What It Means

For Belgium, there is no shame in this exit — only the frustration of meeting a side marginally more ruthless on the night. De Ketelaere leaves as one of the tournament's revelations, and this young Belgian generation has announced itself as a force for 2030.

For Spain, the reward is enormous: a semi-final against France — the reigning champions with six wins from six — on July 14. The European champions against the world champions; Spain's suffocating control against the transition monster that just dismantled Morocco. It is, by any measure, the biggest match of the tournament so far, with the winner overwhelming favourite to lift the trophy at MetLife on July 19. On the other side of the bracket, Norway–England and Argentina–Switzerland decide who joins them.

France have been warned: Spain never stop passing, and they never stop until the 90th minute. Ask Portugal. Ask Belgium.

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