Mikel Merino came to Spain's rescue for the second successive match, coming off the bench to net the winner against Belgium to book a World Cup semi-final showdown against France.
Merino continues 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 sidelined for most of 2026.
Having grabbed the only goal to settle their last-16 tie against Portugal last week, Merino again proved his worth, pouncing on a rebound after Senne Lammens, who had replaced the injured Thibaut Courtois in the second half, spilt a Pau Cubarsi drive from distance.
Fabian Ruiz, who was handed a surprise start ahead of Pedri, broke the deadlock as he swept home after Courtois denied Dani Olmo.
An intuitive Kevin De Bruyne pass freed Timothy Castagne, whose excellent cross was headed home by Charles De Ketelaere, who had craftily crept onside, to level the score at 1-1. It was the first time Spain had conceded at this World Cup.
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 against Portugal on Monday.
He did it again on Friday in the 88th minute, two minutes after he entered, against injury-plagued Belgium.
Best photos of the 2026 World Cup - in pictures
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France talisman Kylian Mbappe was on target in his team's 2-0 quarter-final victory over Morocco. EPA -
Gessime Yassine looks dejected after the match as Morocco's World Cup comes to an end. Reuters -
Displaced Palestinians gather to watch the match between Egypt and Argentina in Gaza city. EPA -
Fans in Buenos Aires celebrate Argentina's victory against Egypt. Getty Images -
Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his team's second goal against Egypt in Atlanta. AFP -
Gregor Kobel of Switzerland saves Cucho Hernandez's penalty for Colombia in the shoot-out in Vancouver. AFP -
Portugal's Bernardo Silva is left in disbelief after a missed chance against Spain, in Arlington. Reuters -
Cristiano Ronaldo is dejected after the match against Spain, as his Portugal team are eliminated from the World Cup. Reuters -
Belgium's Hans Vanaken scores their third goal past Matt Freese of the US, in Seattle. Reuters -
Belgium's Charles De Ketelaere scores their first goal against the US. Reuters -
England captain Harry Kane celebrates scoring his team's third goal in the 3-2 win over Mexico in Mexico City. AFP -
Australian referee Alireza Faghani shows a red card to England defender Jarell Quansah against Mexico. AFP -
England manager Thomas Tuchel reacts during the match. Reuters -
Erling Haaland scores his and Norway's second goal against Brazil. AFP -
Brazil winger Vinicius Junior remonstrates with assistant referee Corey Parker. Reuters -
Brazil forward Neymar slumps to his knees as the final whistle is blown. AFP -
France forward Desire Doue is surrounded by Paraguay defenders in the penalty box in Philadelphia. France won 1-0 thanks to a penalty from Kylian Mbappe. AFP -
Morocco's Achraf Hakimi and Soufiane Rahimi celebrate after beating Canada 3-0 in Houston to qualify for the last 16. AFP -
An Egypt fan holds a banner before the match against Australia in Arlington, Texas. Her confidence was vindicated ... Egypt won in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw. Next up, Argentina. Reuters -
Alidu Seidu of Ghana in action tussles with Jaminton Campaz of Colombia in Kansas City, with the South Americans winning 1-0 to progress to the last 16. EPA -
Argentina's talisman Lionel Messi looks to create an opening during his side's hard-fought last 32 win over Cape Verde in Miami. AFP -
Egyptian midfielder Mostafa Ziko is thrown into the air by a challenge from Australia's Jackson Irvine, left, in Arlington. AFP
"I'm so happy. I can't believe it yet. It's happened again," Merino told 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."
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 champions Spain 2-1 in the semi-finals 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. "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. We want to keep going to the final."
Belgium captain and midfielder Youri Tielemans sustained an undisclosed injury during the warm-up 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.
"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 half-time.
La Roja allowed Belgium back into the match with clearing, and Castagne and Castagne sent a cross in from the right to De Ketelaere, who got ahead of Pau Cubarsi and powered the ball past Unai Simon with a header.
"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 told 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."
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