It had to be Mikel Merino.
Spain’s savior came through again with a substitute goal in La Roja’s 2-1 defeat of Belgium in a World Cup quarterfinal Friday afternoon in Inglewood, Calif.
Merino has continued to reward coach Luis de la Fuente’s faith in him as he recovered from a stress fracture in his right foot, which kept him on crutches for two months and on the sideline for most of 2026.
But he’s back and a major reason Spain, the 2010 World Cup champions, have a showdown with France in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday with the winner advancing to the World Cup final on July 19 in East Rutherford, N.J.
France seek their third straight final, having defeated Croatia in 2018 before losing to Argentina four years ago. The French will also be looking for revenge after losing to eventual champion Spain 2-1 in the semifinals of the 2024 European Championship.
“If anyone should be afraid it should be (France) — we knocked them out of the Euros,” Spanish forward Lamine Yamal told TV Espana after the Belgium match. “Obviously, we are two great teams, among the best in the world. We’ll see what happens, but we have no fear.
“We’re very happy to be in the semis again (after the Euros). We want to keep going to the final.”
Merino, who injured his foot in late January and underwent surgery which he thought would keep him out of the World Cup, came off the bench to score the stoppage-time winner vs. Portugal in the round of 16 on Monday.
He did it again on Friday in the 88th minute, two after he entered, against injury-plagued Belgium.
“I’m so happy. I can’t believe it yet. It’s happened again,” Merino said on TV Espana. “People say there’s no such thing as coincidences, but if you go in there prepared then it can fall for you again.”
He put in a rebound after substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens spilled a soft shot by Pau Cubarsi.
Lammens replaced the injured Thibaut Courtois (four saves) in the 71st minute when he couldn’t play through a quad injury.
In the second minute of second-half stoppage time, Spain defender Aymeric Laporte bailed out goalkeeper Unai Simon with a clearance in front of the goal.
Belgium captain and midfielder Youri Tielemans sustained an undisclosed injury during warm-ups and was scratched from the starting lineup. Hans Vanaken replaced him.
“I don’t think we’ve got anything to feel humiliated about,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said, through a translator. “Unfortunately, the stars weren’t aligned. We lost our keeper, our captain. We had to sub out Kevin De Bruyne and that wasn’t part of the game plan. There were too many things. The ducks weren’t in a row.”
Spain had not conceded a goal in the tournament through five matches but found themselves tied 1-1 at the half.
Fabian Ruiz put Spain ahead in the 30th minute with a rebound off a shot by Dani Olmo but a header by Charles De Ketelaere in the 41st was the equalizer.
Spain almost opened the scoring in the 21st but a strike by Yamal, who turns 19 on Monday, was wide of the left post. The lead came soon after.
A cross by Pedro Porro from the left flank was well struck by Olmo at the center of the box, forcing a right-handed save by Courtois.
Ruiz, who got the start over Barcelona’s Pedri in the midfield, was in perfect position for the putback.
La Roja allowed Belgium back into the match with uncharacteristic poor clearing and Timothy Castagne sent a service in from the right to De Ketelaere, who got inside positioning on Cubarsi and powered the ball past Simon.
“We were much the better team, but then when we were playing our best, (Belgium) managed to score their goal,” Yamal said. “No team really comes out to play us, everyone sits back to defend. It’s more difficult, but in the end we got the victory.”
Thanks once more to Merino’s heroics.
“We came here for this, to play against the best teams in the world,” Merino said to FOX Sports, looking ahead to France. “We are confident in our possibilities. At the same time, respecting the opposition.
“One of those games that you dream of when you were a kid and now we have the chance to compete against a massive rival. Hopefully, we’ll get the win.”
Belgium had their 18-match unbeaten streak end, while Spain extended their own unbeaten streak to a team-record 36 matches (27 wins, nine draws) dating back to a loss to Colombia in March 2024.
Spain would tie Italy’s all-time record of 37 matches without a loss with a win over France.
–Field Level Media
