RecapSaturday, July 11

La Roja Breach the Wall: Spain 2–1 Belgium, SoFi Stadium

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Spain finally conceded their first goal of the 2026 World Cup but it barely mattered — the European champions absorbed Belgium's defiance and marched into a semi-final date with France, 2–1 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

47 of your 71 pickers backed Spain — almost the entire room — and they were right in lockstep with a market that had La Roja at -160 on the 90-minute moneyline and Belgium a distant +450 on DraftKings (per VegasInsider). The one brave soul who backed Belgium had a long, lonely evening in California. Five of you went further and nailed the exact 2–1 scoreline, which means tonight the pool hits a perfect 100% accuracy rating. Soak it in.

What Happened

Spain had been the tournament's immovable object all summer — nine goals scored, not a single one conceded across six matches, with goalkeeper Unai Simón building a World Cup record 609+ consecutive scoreless minutes (FOX Sports). Belgium arrived at SoFi having demolished co-host USA 4–1 in the round of sixteen, 13 tournament goals banked, and a furious sense of collective purpose. They made a proper game of it — the goal they pulled back was the first Spain had conceded anywhere in this tournament, a small, defiant monument to what Rudi Garcia's side brought to the fight — but La Roja had two of their own and the composure of a team that has not lost in 35 matches since March 2024, tying the longest unbeaten run in Spanish football history (FOX Sports). Final whistle: 2–1. The machine rolls on.

Standout Performers

Lamine Yamal had been operating at a slow burn since returning from a hamstring injury — just one tournament goal heading into the quarterfinal, with pundits insisting his full brilliance was still incoming (Rediff, 9 July preview). At SoFi, the teenager turned the dial all the way up, and the 85,000 inside the stadium felt every twist. Mikel Oyarzabal, four tournament goals to his name before kick-off and averaging a goal per start since the start of 2025 (FOX Sports), continued to be the most quietly devastating centre-forward in the draw — Belgium's centre-backs found him just as awkward to contain as every other backline has this summer. For Belgium, you have to credit the character it took to breach a defence no one had managed all tournament. Whether it was Kevin De Bruyne pulling strings or Charles De Ketelaere pressing relentlessly from the front, the Red Devils ensured this was a quarterfinal, not a coronation.

Expected or an Upset?

Delivered almost exactly as the bookmakers wrote the script. Spain were clear, short-priced favourites — -160 on the moneyline, -320 to advance (DraftKings, per VegasInsider); Bet365 listed them at 1.60, Belgium at a lengthy 5.25 (Sports-king.com). The absence of Amadou Onana, who ruptured his ACL against USA (Rediff, 9 July), stripped Belgium of a crucial midfield engine and made closing that gap even harder. The one genuine market intrigue was whether Spain's clean-sheet streak would survive: Bet365 priced Both Teams to Score at 1.80 — effectively a coin flip — and that line landed. The goal Belgium scored was remarkable in its own right: the first conceded by Simón's side in the entire 2026 tournament. That it finally happened against a Belgian attack boasting 13 tournament goals felt both inevitable and somehow still startling.

What's Next — and What This Means for Belgium

Spain now face France in the semi-final on Tuesday 14 July in Dallas — a collision of heavyweight European rivals with a place in the 19 July MetLife final at stake. France, who swept Morocco 2–0 on Thursday with Mbappé and Dembélé on the scoresheet (The South African, Standard), are the current tournament favourites at +175 on BetMGM (VegasInsider); Spain sit at +350. It is the cleanest philosophical clash left in the draw: France's explosive individual genius against Spain's collective, passing-based suffocation of opponents. For Belgium, this was almost certainly the curtain call for a generation. De Bruyne, Lukaku, Courtois — the golden crop who promised so much, delivered a third-place finish in 2018, and spent a decade haunted by what might have been — bowed out in California just one match short of a first-ever World Cup semi-final. They came, they rattled the cage, and then La Roja held the key to the door. As the old internet wisdom goes: it always ends against Spain. Tonight, it did.

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