Mikel Merino emerged as Spain’s hero yet again as the substitute scored in the 88th minute to stun Belgium and book his side’s place in the World Cup semi-finals.
Having come off the bench to score a 91st-minute winner against Portugal in the last 16, the Arsenal midfielder stepped up with another late strike to decide a closely contested quarter-final tie in Los Angeles.
With the score tied at 1-1 and heading into extra time, Belgium substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens – brought on to replace the injured Thibaut Courtois – spilled Pau Cubarsi’s 25-yard strike and Merino capitalised by planting the rebound into the roof of the net from close range.
He had only been on the pitch for 117 seconds after replacing Dani Olmo.
Fabian Ruiz had given Spain a 30th-minute lead, before they conceded their first goal of the finals when Charles de Ketelaere headed home four minutes before half-time.
Victory sealed a last-four meeting for Luis de la Fuente’s European champions against France in Dallas on Tuesday, 14 July (20:00 BST).
Spain took the lead with a fine move down the right as Pedro Porro exchanged passes with Lamine Yamal before delivering a cross that found Olmo, whose initial effort was stopped by Courtois.
But Paris St-Germain midfielder Fabian Ruiz, starting ahead of Pedri, drilled the rebound through the legs of Timothy Castagne to give the 2010 champions the lead their early dominance deserved.
Belgium drew level 11 minutes later as De Ketelaere stole in front of Cubarsi to power home Castagne’s cross – ending Spain’s remarkable run of 649 minutes without conceding at the 2026 World Cup.
Rudi Garcia’s side wanted a penalty after the restart when Spain defender Aymeric Laporte headed a cross onto the arm of team-mate Rodri in the box, while Mikel Oyarzabal had a shot blocked by an alert Courtois.
But the Real Madrid keeper broke down in tears when he suffered what looked like a muscle injury and had to go off in the 71st minute.
It proved pivotal in the outcome as his replacement, Manchester United stopper Lammens, came on for his third international appearance and was at fault when he failed to hold Cubarsi’s shot and Merino pounced from close range.
As Belgium’s campaign ended in heartbreak, Spain faces France in only their second World Cup semi-final.
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