Spain Advances to FIFA World Cup 2026 Semifinals After Narrow Win Over Belgium

Spain has advanced to the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Belgium. With goals from Fabian Ruiz and Mikel Merino, Spain will now face France in a highly anticipated match. The game also saw Kylian Mbappe of France continue his remarkable tournament performance, scoring in their quarterfinal win over Morocco. This article delves into the highlights of the match and the records set by the players, including Spain's impressive unbeaten streak.

By Narendra Chaudhary Jul 11, 2026, 03:18 IST

Spain Secures Semifinal Spot

In a thrilling encounter, Spain clinched a place in the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 by defeating Belgium 2-1. This victory sets the stage for an exciting semifinal matchup against France.

Fabian Ruiz, who was surprisingly chosen to start over Pedri, and substitute Mikel Merino both scored for Spain, while Belgium's Charles De Ketelaere managed to find the back of the net. The match was marred by an injury to Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who had to leave the field.

Ruiz opened the scoring after Courtois deflected a shot from Dani Olmo, allowing Ruiz to capitalize. Spain maintained their offensive pressure, with Lamine Yamal's dynamic performance earning him the Player of the Match title.

Belgium equalized just before halftime when Kevin De Bruyne set up Timothy Castagne, whose accurate cross was expertly headed in by De Ketelaere, keeping him onside.

This goal ended Spain's goalkeeper Unai Simon's impressive streak of 560 consecutive World Cup minutes without conceding, breaking the previous record of 517 minutes held by Italy's Walter Zenga since 1990.

A significant blow for Belgium came in the 71st minute when Courtois was replaced by Senne Lammens due to injury. Shortly after, Lammens failed to secure a long-range shot from Pau Cubarsi, allowing Merino to score the decisive goal.

With this win, Spain has extended their unbeaten streak to 36 matches since their last loss to Colombia, matching Argentina's record from 2019 to 2022 and falling just one match short of Italy's world-record 37-match unbeaten run.

Spain is now set to face France in a highly anticipated semifinal as they pursue another FIFA World Cup title.

On the other hand, France's captain Kylian Mbappe continued his stellar performance in the tournament, scoring in France's 2-0 quarterfinal win over Morocco, which secured their place in the semifinals.

Mbappe has made history as the youngest player to reach 20 World Cup appearances and the fastest to score 20 goals in the tournament's history, bringing his total to 20 goals across the 2018, 2022, and 2026 World Cups. His eighth goal in this tournament has put him level with Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.

Additionally, Mbappe has set a new record for the most match-winning goals in FIFA World Cup history, totaling eight, and has become the first French player to be involved in 100 international goals, with 64 goals and 36 assists for the national team.