Spain and Belgium clash in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup, with the winner set to take on France in the semi-finals.
Spain booked their place in the last eight with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Portugal. It wasn’t their most fluent performance of the tournament. But Mikel Merino’s stoppage-time winner eventually settled a tense contest and ended Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup career.
The European champions have now reached the quarter-finals without conceding a single goal. Underlining why many still see them as the team to beat despite being pushed harder than expected by their Iberian rivals.
Belgium’s round-of-16 scoreline was a little bit more convincing. Rudi Garcia’s side produced one of their best displays of the tournament to beat co-hosts USA 4-1. Charles De Ketelaere scored twice before Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku wrapped up an impressive victory.
That result continued Belgium’s resurgence after an inconsistent group stage. They’ll travel to Los Angeles believing they have the quality and experience to trouble one of the tournament favourites.
With a place in the World Cup semi-finals at stake, neither side will need any extra motivation for what should be a tense quarter-final.
How to watch Spain vs Belgium
Spain vs Belgium kicks off at 20:00 GMT on Friday, July 10 at the Los Angeles Stadium.
This match will be shown live in the UK on BBC One, with streaming also available via BBCiPlayer.
In the United States, World Cup coverage is available on FOX Sports and Telemundo.
In Canada, coverage is available on CTV, TSN and RDS.
Spain team news
Luis de la Fuente has found a settled starting XI during the tournament, and with no fresh injury concerns there is little reason to make any changes here.
Mikel Oyarzabal is expected to continue leading the line, while Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena will offer support behind him.
Rodri and Pedri will continue to anchor the midfield, hoping to continue their dominance so far this tournament. Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte and Marc Cucurella are expected to keep their places across the back four.
Unai Simón should once again start between the posts. Spain have yet to concede a goal in the tournament, with this back five playing a huge part in that.
Yeremy Pino remains unavailable through injury, while Nico Williams is still a doubt, meaning Baena is likely to retain his place on the left wing.
Expected XI:
(4-2-3-1) Simón – Porro, Cubarsí, Laporte, Cucurella – Rodri, Pedri – Lamine Yamal, Olmo, Baena – Oyarzabal
Belgium team news
Belgium are also unlikely to make wholesale changes after their impressive 4-1 victory over the United States in the last 16.
Rudi Garcia’s side finally clicked in attack during that performance. The same front four is expected to keep their places against Spain.
Charles De Ketelaere should lead the line, with Leandro Trossard and Dodi Lukébakio supporting him from wide. Kevin De Bruyne could be brought back in for this one. He would replace Amadou Onana, who drops out due to his ACL injury.
Nicolas Raskin would then drop in alongside Youri Tielemans in midfield.
At the back, Timothy Castagne, Nathan Ngoy, Brandon Mechele and Maxim De Cuyper are all expected to retain their places in front of Thibaut Courtois.
Onana is joined on the injury list by Zeno Debast, who is a doubt after picking up a leg injury.
Expected XI:
(4-2-3-1) Courtois – Castagne, Ngoy, Mechele, De Cuyper – Raskin, Tielemans – Lukébakio, De Bruyne, Trossard – De Ketelaere.
Spain vs Belgium stats
- Spain reached the World Cup quarter-finals after edging past Portugal 1-0 with a stoppage-time winner in the round of 16.
- Belgium booked their place in the last eight with an impressive 4-1 victory over co-hosts USA.
- Spain are yet to concede a goal at the 2026 World Cup, keeping four clean sheets from their opening four matches.
- Belgium have scored 10 goals in four matches at this year’s tournament, with only Argentina finding the net more often.
- Spain have won each of their last nine World Cup matches, stretching back to the start of the tournament.
- Belgium have reached the World Cup quarter-finals for the third time in their last five appearances at the competition.
- Spain have won three of their last five meetings with Belgium, while Belgium have won the other two.
- The nations last met competitively at UEFA Euro 2020, where Belgium claimed a 2-1 victory in the quarter-finals.
- Lamine Yamal has been directly involved in five goals at the 2026 World Cup, scoring twice and providing three assists.
- Belgium are aiming to reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time since finishing third at the 2018 tournament.
Spain vs Belgium prediction
Truth be told, I’m not completely sold on either of these teams.
Spain have gone through the tournament without conceding, which looks brilliant on paper, but I don’t think they’ve been as dominant as some people are making out.
Against Portugal, they spent long spells moving the ball around without really hurting them, and it took a stoppage-time goal to settle it.
Belgium are the opposite.
Watching Belgium feels a bit like watching someone who insists they’re in control while everything around them is on fire. They always seem to leave the door open for the opposition, but they also carry enough quality going forward to get themselves out of trouble again and again.
That approach worries me here.
If you keep giving Spain the ball, eventually they’ll make you pay. It might take 20 minutes, it might take 90, but asking your defenders to spend the whole game chasing Lamine Yamal around doesn’t sound like much fun.
The funny thing is I actually think Belgium will create chances. They won’t need five opportunities to score, and De Ketelaere has looked sharper with every game. I just don’t trust Belgium to defend well enough for the full 90 minutes.
Spain haven’t blown me away in this tournament. They probably haven’t blown themselves away either. But they’ve looked organised, they’ve stayed calm when games have become awkward and, most importantly, they haven’t beaten themselves.
In quarter-finals, that usually counts for plenty.
My picks for this game would be: Spain to qualify, under 2.5 goals and Lamine Yamal to score or assist.
