INGLEWOOD — In the late stages Friday, the Spanish national soccer team found a way in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinal.
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Locked in a tough and tight 1-1 draw on a sun-drenched day in the Los Angeles Stadium, Spain’s Mikel Merino knocked in a rebound in the 88th on a spilled shot to secure a 2-1 win in front of 70,492 and a spot in Tuesday’s semifinal.
Spain advances to face France Tuesday in Dallas.
Pau Cubarsi’s long-distance shot on goal wasn’t handled cleanly by Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens and before he could regain his footing to get to the ball, Merino had the finisher for the win.
It was Merino’s second game-winning goal of the tournament. He scored in the 91st minute of Monday’s Round of 16 Spanish win over Portugal.
Lammens didn’t start for Belgium. He entered the game in the 72nd minute, replacing Thibault Courtois, who left with a thigh injury.
Even before Courtois’ departure, Spain was taking control of the game, pinning back the Belgian defense, which had managed to remain strong until the 88th minute.
The day started out as if Spain was due for a comfortable day.
Fabian Ruiz put Spain ahead 1-0 in the 30th minute, following up a shot from Dani Olmo that had been blocked by a Belgian defender.
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The lead, which usually would have been secure, even at 1-0, didn’t last long this time.
Charles De Ketelaere, who tortured the USMNT with a pair of first-half goals in Monday’s Round of 16, headed in a cross past Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón. It was the first goal Spain had allowed this World Cup and snapped a consecutive shutout streak of 649 minutes for Simón, the longest streak in World Cup history.
Spain entered the game with six consecutive shutouts, dating back to 2022.
As expected, Belgium didn’t have much possession in the first half, but De Ketelaere’s goal was the perfect action to head into halftime.
After a slow start with consecutive draws, Belgium found its offensive form to finish on top of Group G. Starting with the final group match against New Zealand and through the knockout rounds, Belgium found its attack.
Belgium scored five goals against New Zealand, then scored three in the final 20 minutes to defeat Senegal in the Round of 32 and put four goals past USMNT goalkeeper Matt Freese in a 4-1 Round of 16 win.
Belgium advanced to the semifinals in 2018, losing to France 1-0. They would regroup to win the third-place game, defeating England 2-0.
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