Match Summary · Belgium · World Cup · Football · International · World Cup · Spain · Belgium · Fabian Ruiz · Charles De Ketelaere · Timothy Castagne
| Metric | Spain | Belgium |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 68% | 32% |
| Shots | 18 | 5 |
| Shots on target | 8 | 2 |
| Shots off target | 4 | 1 |
| Corners | 5 | 1 |
| Fouls | 13 | 18 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 2 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
| Offsides | 3 | 1 |
| Goalkeeper saves | 1 | 6 |
Spain had the better of the first half and were rewarded after 29 minutes when Ruiz opened the scoring. Belgium found their way back just before the interval as De Ketelaere met Castagne's cross to make it 1-1 at 40 minutes. Pau Cubarsi then went into the book in the 43rd minute as the quarter-final tightened before the break.
The second half became a bench battle. Spain sent on Ferran Torres and Pedri in the 55th minute, while Belgium responded before the hour with Axel Witsel, Romelu Lukaku and Joaquin Seys. Senne Lammens later replaced Thibaut Courtois in the 71st minute, and Kevin De Bruyne was booked before being withdrawn late on.
The decisive moment arrived quickly after another Spain change. Merino replaced Dani Olmo in the 86th minute and scored two minutes later to restore the lead for good. Aymeric Laporte and Witsel collected stoppage-time yellow cards as Spain closed it out.
The stats underlined the pattern of the game: Spain held 68% possession and attempted 663 passes, while Belgium had to survive long spells of pressure and were credited with 40 clearances. In the end, the score and result matched the flow, with Merino delivering the winning moment in a dramatic summary.
Our pre-match analysis called this one correctly. These picks were backed before kick-off and landed after the final result.
1X2: Home @1.66
Pre-match pick: Spain have the better team and are backed to win this in normal time.