rewrite this title Inexplicable Lammens error costs Belgium as Spain’s Merino claims match-winner again

No wonder Spain boss Luis de la Fuente can’t resist keeping Mikel Merino on the bench. It’s now two World Cup knockout games deadlocked, two World Cup knockout games won by the left boot of the Arsenal midfielder. On Monday, it was against Portugal in Dallas; here in the Californian sunshine, he was quickest following in, anticipating an error from the Belgian goalkeeper. Slamming the ball into the roof of the net two minutes from time, he sends his country into a tantalising semi-final showdown with fellow European heavyweights France on Tuesday.

Only, it wasn’t meant to be this way for this valiant Belgian team. The cruel turn of the tide came 20 minutes from the end when Thibaut Courtois, one of the world’s greatest goalkeepers, trudged off inconsolable after sustaining a thigh injury. A very capable No 2 in Man Utd’s Senne Lammens took his place but it was his error, his inability to hold on to Pau Cubarsi’s long-range effort, his incomprehensible spill of the football into Merino’s path, which will be the lasting image of their World Cup campaign.

And so European champions Spain march on. It was far from convincing and Belgium will rue a few half-decent openings in the second-half. But nearly 16 years to the day since the 2010 generation prevailed on the world stage in South Africa, this 2026 squad took another step closer to their nation’s second triumph. It will now be Kylian Mbappe and the irresistible French attack in four days’ time in the air-conditioned Dallas Stadium. Some match, that.

Spain’s incredible run now stands at 36 consecutive matches unbeaten in competitive encounters. While their clean-sheet record, standing at 650 World Cup minutes without conceding, came a cropper here, the underlying goal of the summer did not sway off course. And as they took the applause of the 70,000-strong crowd in Los Angeles, dominated by Spain supporters, they will be satisfied with their progression, even if their status was precarious for a period here.

These two had not played for a decade, while Spain were unbeaten in 11 games against their European opponents, dating back to a World Cup quarter-final shootout defeat 40 years ago in Puebla City, Mexico. In similarly sweltering conditions in Inglewood, with this match kicking off at midday, could an underdog story repeat itself here?

The weight of history perhaps explained why Belgium boss Rudi Garcia drafted back in his big guns, Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne, after they were surprise omissions from the starting lineup, which torpedoed the USA in the last round. However, they did receive a hammer blow just 12 minutes before kick-off, with captain Youri Tielemans injuring his hamstring in the warm-up.

Yet in a baking-hot first quarter – as that’s how games are assimilated at this World Cup – Belgium more than held their own. Doku, whose main headlines at this tournament so far were regarding the ridiculous saga over heading home for the birth of his baby boy, looked a constant threat on the break, weaving through a few defenders at a time, while Lamine Yamal’s first of several sighters, cutting in on his left foot 20 minutes in, flew comfortably wide. But lose focus against this Spain team at your peril. Half an hour in, the Red Devils went to sleep at the back – and they were behind.

Pedro Porro exchanged a quickfire one-two with Yamal on the right before finding Dani Olmo in the box. His shot was saved by Courtois, but Belgium’s No 1 could only palm it out to Fabian Ruiz – deputising for Pedri in midfield – to simply tap in. Courtois, given his quality, should have done better. Spain had not lost any of the 48 games the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder had played in previously; it seemed La Roja were well on their way.

Yamal dazzled for the next 10, gliding away from forlorn Belgium left-back Maxim De Cuyper, and went close with a free-kick, again palmed away by Courtois. But then, four minutes before the interval, Spain did the unimaginable: they conceded a goal.

The goalscorer was Charles De Ketelaere, the crosser was Timothy Castagne but the chief architect was, inevitably, De Bruyne. The stand-in skipper slipped the neatest of first-time passes into Belgium right-back Castagne high up the pitch. His near-post cross found Belgian marksman De Ketelaere who got across Cubarsi, taking a leaf out of all-time top-scorer Romelu Lukaku’s book, and glanced beautifully beyond Unai Simon.

For the Spain keeper, that was his first goal conceded in 650 World Cup minutes. The impeachable rearguard was no more.

After the break, it was nip and tuck. De Cuyper should have done better in the box after a powerful shot into the side-netting, while Yamal, largely wasteful on the whole, swept a shot just wide of the post. Spain were certainly not having it all their own way and, 55 minutes in, coach Luis de la Fuente had seen enough, bringing on Ferran Torres and Pedri in a bold double substitution. As the second period drifted on, and Lukaku came on up front, Belgium looked a genuine threat on the counterattack, with one cross bristling Rodri’s hand; no penalty given.

Then, the twist. Courtois went down clutching his left thigh and burst into tears when he realised his race was run and Lemmens stepped into the spotlight. A cramping De Bruyne then even had an opening from 40 yards out with Simon in no man’s land, but Rodri – as he so often does for club and country – blocked the goal-bound strike.

But the Belgians were dropping deeper and deeper as extra time beckoned. So much so that Cubarsi was unchallenged as he shot on goal and Lammens, inexplicably, let the ball scramble away from his grasp. And it was Merino, that man again after his stoppage-time winner over Portugal, who slammed home to send Spain to a Texas Tuesday date with their French neighbours.