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Spain and Belgium will face off this Friday at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, in the second match of the quarter-finals of the , with a spot in the semi-finals at stake for the winner.
The match is scheduled for 12:00 local time (15:00 Cuba time) and will be officiated by the English referee Michael Oliver.
The winner will face France in the semifinals, which secured its place on Thursday by thrashing Morocco 2-0 at the Gillette Stadium in Boston, with goals from Mbappé in the 60th minute and Dembélé in the 66th.
Spain enters the match as one of the most consistent teams in the tournament, after finishing first in Group H with 7 points, with victories against Saudi Arabia (4-0) and Uruguay (1-0) and a goalless draw against Cape Verde.
In the knockout stage, the team led by Luis de la Fuente has left no stone unturned: they defeated Austria 3-0 in the Round of 16—with a brace from Mikel Oyarzabal and a goal from Pedro Porro—and eliminated Portugal in the quarter-finals with a score of 1-0, thanks to a goal from Mikel Merino in a tense Iberian classic held on July 6 at the AT&T Stadium.
The Spanish attack combines experience and youth: Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Mikel Oyarzabal make up an offensive line that has posed challenges to all their opponents in the tournament.
Belgium, on the other hand, has forged its path through epic achievements and strong character.
The Red Devils, led by Domenico Tedesco, kicked off the knockout stage with a historic comeback against Senegal on July 1 in Seattle: they were trailing 0-2 and turned the game around with goals from Lukaku (min. 86), Tielemans (min. 89), and a penalty from Tielemans himself in the 120th minute, securing a final score of 3-2 in extra time.
In the Round of 16, on the 6th, Belgium defeated the United States 4-1 —one of the host countries— at the Lumen Field in Seattle, with a brace from Charles De Ketelaere and goals from Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku.
With that victory, Belgium eliminated the three host countries of the tournament—United States, Mexico, and Canada—leaving them without any representatives in the quarter-finals.
Lukaku, 32 years old and a player for Napoli, became the all-time leading scorer for Belgium in World Cups during this tournament, and he arrives at the match against Spain as the main offensive reference for his national team.
The match between Spain and Belgium determines the matchups for the final phase of the tournament: the winner will face France in the semifinals, in a clash that will decide the first finalist of the World Cup 2026, which will be held until July 19.
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