Super-sub Mikel Merino struck late in the second half for Spain to see the former champions through to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2-1 win over Belgium at the Los Angeles Stadium seed Spain set up a tantalising showdown with Cup favorites France on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it was heartbreak for Belgium’s substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens, sent on late, who spilled a shot into the path of Merino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dramatic finale came after Fabian Ruiz had opened the scoring for Spain, before Charles De Ketelaere equalised for Belgium against the run of play before halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welcoming Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku back to the starting XI, Belgium were rocked by a hamstring injury during the warm-up to captain Youri Tielemans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having already lost Amadou Onana to a ruptured ACL, the Red Devils would have to play a near second-choice midfield against the Spanish possession masters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ruiz, brought in for Pedri, wasted no time combining with Rodri to dominate the ball and Barcelona’s teen sensation Lamine Yamal curled an early shot just wide of the far post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But opposing winger Doku was bright for Belgium, cutting in from the left to feed De Ketelaere, the striker fresh from his brace against the United States on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, it was Spain who struck first. On the half-hour mark, Pedro Porro played a sharp one-two with Yamal before expertly cutting it back from near the byline to Dani Olmo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Olmo’s shot was parried by Thibaut Courtois, but fell to Ruiz, who fired it home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly it was all Spain. They pinged passes around the Belgian half as though this FIFA World Cup quarter-final was a training exercise, laid on for an A-list crowd featuring Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz and Noel Gallagher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Belgium, having fought back astonishingly late from 2-0 down in the Round-of-32 to dispatch Senegal, did not panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They grabbed one back in the 41st minute. De Bruyne slid a through ball wide to Timothy Castagne. His cross found De Ketelaere, who perfectly timed his run and outmuscled Barcelona youngster Pau Cubarsi to head home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the first goal Spain had conceded at this FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Improbably, Belgium almost grabbed another before half-time. Breaking from a Spain corner, De Ketelaere’s pass to a totally clear Doku was barely intercepted by Olmo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yamal grew into the game after the break, nearly finding Mikel Oyarzabal with an incisive cross that was well blocked by a charging Courtois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belgian head coach Rudi Garcia brought on veteran striker Romelu Lukaku, who had scored from the bench in three straight games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The match opened up. A Belgian cross hit Rodri’s arm but the impact was deemed accidental. Oyarzabal then had a shot saved from a close, tight angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A tearful Courtois was forced off by injury after 70 minutes. He was replaced by Lammens, the 24-year-old Manchester United ‘keeper making his FIFA World Cup debut in daunting circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It turned out to be a nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 88th minute, Cubarsi shot low from range, and Lammens should have held onto the ball. Instead substitute Merino was first to the rebound, smashing it home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the Arsenal midfielder’s second straight late winner from the bench, after he scored the crucial goal against Portugal in stoppage time on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Late on Alexis Saelemaekers rounded Unai, but was unable to find Lukaku in front of an open goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the whistle blew, Courtois came out to embrace a distraught Lammens, while other members of Belgium’s ageing “Golden Generation” stood immobile and disbelieving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Spain there were embraces and fist pumps, before attention quickly turns to their blockbuster clash with France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Super-sub Mikel Merino struck late in the second half for Spain to see the former champions through to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[430],"tags":[276,63],"class_list":["post-14641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-fifa","tag-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t