Mikel Merino’s Late Heroics Send Spain to the World Cup Semifinal

Spain and Belgium fought for 87 minutes without a winner. Then everything changed in a matter of seconds.

Mikel Merino had barely settled onto the pitch when the moment came. He turned a tight, nervous game into a trip to the semifinal, and he did it as a substitute, again.

The defeat also raised fresh questions about whether Belgium’s long-serving core will remain together for another major tournament.

How Spain finally broke Belgium

Fabián Ruiz scored first for Spain in the first half. It was the kind of goal their control of the ball usually earns them. Belgium answered fast through Charles De Ketelaere, and the two teams went into halftime level.

The second half got tighter, not looser. Spain finished with 2.08 expected goals against Belgium’s 0.38, a big gap that shows who controlled the game. But Belgium had already shown all tournament that they don’t need the ball to make things hard.

Yamal was Spain’s most dangerous attacker throughout the evening, repeatedly stretching Belgium’s defence and forcing important saves before Merino eventually found the breakthrough.

Remember, he is still a teenager doing this on a World Cup stage. Spain’s attacking talent right now looks almost unfair for whoever plays them next.

Belgium’s night was already going wrong before Merino even stepped on the pitch. Captain Youri Tielemans got injured in the warm up and never played. Starting goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois went off in the 71st minute after suffering an apparent leg injury. He looked upset walking to the bench.

His replacement, Senne Lammens, lasted barely fifteen minutes before the moment that decided the match. Pau Cubarsí shot from close range. Lammens could only push the ball back into danger. Merino arrived and finished from point blank range.

One minute and 57 seconds. That’s all it took Spain’s substitute to turn a tense, even game into a trip to the semifinal. It’s also the second straight knockout match where he’s been the difference between going home and moving on.

Merino’s decisive impact was no coincidence. The Arsenal midfielder has now scored the winning goal in Spain’s last two knockout matches after coming off the bench, highlighting Luis de la Fuente’s remarkable strength in depth.

My honest read: Luis de la Fuente has built a bench that acts like a second wave of attack, not an afterthought. Merino has become his go to weapon late in matches. Arsenal fans already know this about him, a midfielder with fresh legs and a knack for finding the right spot in the box.

What this defeat means for Belgium, and what the win means for Spain

There is a version of this match that isn’t about Spain at all. Belgium’s core group, Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, has played together for almost a decade without winning anything. This quarterfinal exit, missing their captain and losing their goalkeeper to injury, feels like an era ending, not just pausing.

I won’t say that story is finished, since the real retirement decisions are still to come. But watching Courtois leave the pitch in tears, it was hard not to wonder if that was the last time this group of players plays together.

This is Spain’s first World Cup semifinal since 2010, the year they won the whole thing. Their road back here has been strange. It included knocking out Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, and now a second straight knockout match saved by the same substitute.

They now face France on Tuesday. It’s a direct rematch of the 2024 European Championship semifinal, a match Spain won 2-1 on their way to winning that whole tournament. France barely broke a sweat beating Morocco, which makes this the most anticipated match left in the World Cup.

After reaching the semifinal, Spain need two more wins (semifinal and final) to lift the trophy. Maybe Merino keeps finding these moments off the bench.

Maybe Mbappé proves too much on the biggest stage of his career. Either way, Tuesday in Arlington, Texas already feels like the match this whole World Cup has been building toward.