Mikel Merino's 88th-minute goal sent Spain into the World Cup 2026 semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Belgium in Los Angeles. Spain had led through Fabian Ruiz, Belgium levelled through Charles De Ketelaere, and Merino supplied the late intervention that changed the bracket. FIFA's official tournament schedule provides the tournament and semi-final context for the result.
This connects with France 2-0 Morocco: Mbappe and Dembele send France into Spain semi-final.
The headline is the late winner, but the wider value is immediate: Spain now travel to Dallas for a semi-final on 14 July. Belgium's tournament ends in the last eight after a match that stayed open until the final minutes.
Merino arrives when Spain need him
Ruiz put Spain ahead in the 30th minute, only for De Ketelaere to equalise before half-time. That made the second half a real quarter-final rather than a scoreline Spain could simply manage. When Merino came on late, he needed only a brief window to become the player who separated the teams.
His 88th-minute goal did more than settle a close game. It gave Spain a second straight knockout match decided by a narrow margin, following their 1-0 win over Portugal in the Round of 16. The two results do not tell the same story, but together they show a team that has found a way through two very different one-goal contests.
The late timing also gives the report its proper shape. This was not a generic 2-1 result with a routine final paragraph about progression. Belgium had brought the game level, Spain were still looking for a breakthrough, and Merino produced it at the point when a quarter-final can begin to look destined for extra time.
Belgium leave with a fine margin
Belgium had reached Los Angeles after a 4-1 win over the United States. Their response to Spain's opening goal meant the quarter-final stayed level at 1-1 into the break, and the eventual margin was a single goal. That does not change the elimination, but it explains why Merino's finish has become the defining image of the match.
For a side with experienced names and a difficult knockout route behind it, a late exit is still an exit. Spain take the semi-final place; Belgium do not get a second leg or a return fixture. The competition consequence is simple, but the route there was not: it ran through a goal in the 88th minute and a result that remained in doubt until then.
France bring a different challenge
France will be waiting in Dallas after their 2-0 win over Morocco. That pairing gives Spain a clear next question. France created a two-goal second-half margin in Boston; Spain required Merino's late finish to edge Belgium. Neither quarter-final decides the semi-final, but both tell readers what each team had to solve to reach it.
Spain's win should be remembered for its specific sequence: Ruiz started the scoring, De Ketelaere restored Belgium's hope, and Merino finished the tie. The next article should not repeat that formula. It should assess the France match on the evidence available then, with this result as the reason Spain are still in the tournament.
*Image: supporters used as World Cup context, not a photograph from this match.*
