Although Spain finally conceded, another late winner from substitute Mikel Merino ($6.2m) secured their 2-1 win over Belgium in Los Angeles.

It sets up a tantalising Tuesday semi-final versus France.

We reflect on this game in our Scout Notes, which features match stats from our World Cup Toolkit page.

SPAIN 2-1 BELGIUM

• Goals: Ruiz, Merino | De Ketelaere
• Assists: Olmo, Cubarsi | Castagne
• Saves bonus: Courtois
• Top points scorers: De Ketelaere (10), Merino (9), Ruiz (9), Olmo (7)

TEAM STATS

SCOUT NOTES

• Luis de la Fuente made one change to the lineup that beat Portugal, surprisingly choosing Fabian Ruiz ($6.8m) over Pedri ($8.1m).
• Opponents Belgium altered a couple of names, as Kevin De Bruyne ($7.5m) and Jeremy Doku ($7.5m) came back in, replacing Dodi Lukebakio ($5.9m) and an injured Amadou Onana ($5.9m).
• However, a big blow came in the warm-up when Onana’s Aston Villa teammate Youri Tielemans ($6.1m) hurt the back of his thigh, meaning Hans Vanaken ($5.5m) started instead.

“Unfortunately, when the body says stop, you can’t force anything. We are professional athletes and we try to give everything, but we saw today many players who were tired and burned.” – Youri Tielemans, speaking post-match

• Star man Lamine Yamal ($10.0m) – aged 18 for a few more days – was a constant threat, racking up six attempts, two shots on target, six crosses and four dazzling dribbles. But, to the disappointment of his 38.7% ownership, it ended up being another blank.
• His 62nd-minute through ball found the quiet Mikel Oyarzabal ($8.1m), whose shot was saved. The Real Sociedad forward had no first-half penalty area touches and later came off for Nico Williams ($7.8m).
• Instead, Ruiz put Spain ahead, justifying his head coach’s big decision. While Doku was an early nuisance to La Roja’s backline, he was slow to react when Pedro Porro ($5.5m) surged forward and cut the ball back to Dani Olmo ($7.7m). His effort was saved, but Ruiz pounced on the rebound.
• It needs noting that Ruiz still didn’t reach the hour mark, making way for Pedri. It’s unclear which of these will start the semi-final.

“The analysis we do, we know what these players will give us when we put them in. Pedri is a class act, one of the best in the world. Fabian [Ruiz] is one of the best in the world, perhaps the best.

“It’s an unfair proposition not to value players like Merino, Zubi[mendi], Gavi — but I insist, we take decisions, they’re complex and very well analysed. It’s one of our strengths.” – Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente

• Having broken the World Cup record for going the longest time without conceding, Spain’s streak ended at 649 minutes. Timothy Castagne‘s ($4.7m) cross had Charles De Ketelaere ($5.6m) beating Pau Cubarsi ($5.0m) to a header.
• Making things worse, both the Barcelona centre-back and Aymeric Laporte ($5.5m) received a yellow card.
• Yet Cubarsi became the only Spanish defensive assist to exceed two points when setting up the late winner.
• You see, veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois ($4.9m) hurt himself and tearfully walked off in what’s likely now his final World Cup appearance. On came impressive Manchester United stopper Senne Lammens ($4.6m).

“He [Courtois] was excellent across the board, especially with long balls. We didn’t want his injury to get worse either. That’s why I decided to sub him.” – Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia

• But, in the 88th minute, Lammens spilt a tame Cubarsi long-ranger, allowing Merino to score almost immediately after replacing Olmo.
• The Arsenal man is building quite a reputation for these. In Euro 2024, he broke German hearts in extra time. Monday’s stoppage-time strike did the same to Portugal, and now this. Of course, any calls for Merino to start over Oyarzabal miss the point – he’s specialising as a super sub for Spain.
• Interestingly, this is only the second ever time that Spain have reached a World Cup semi. Mind you, they survived a scare in the closing minutes when Unai Simón ($5.0m) burst out of goal, allowing Alexis Saelemaekers ($5.7m) to go around him. But the cross was successfully cleared.