World Cup recap: Merino scores winner for Spain vs. Belgium to advance to last four
Spain advances to the 2026 World Cup semifinals after a dramatic late-game victory against Belgium.
📍 Where it landed
Spain advanced to the World Cup semifinals after Mikel Merino scored a late winner in a 2-1 victory over Belgium. The story quieted without further updates on Spain’s semifinal clash against France.
Epilogue added 43d ago, after coverage quieted.
The reporting (6)
- Spain reaches World Cup semifinals as Mikel Merino delivers late winner vs. Belgium Yahoo Sports · 45d ago
- World Cup 2026: Mikel Merino the unlikely hero again as Spain wait for Lamine Yamal show BBC · 45d ago
- Spain beat Belgium late to set to World Cup semifinal vs. France ESPN · 45d ago
- How to Watch Spain Vs. Belgium Online for Free From Anywhere Business Insider · 45d ago
- Spain pounce on Lammens error to make semi-final with France. Is it the real final? Was Courtois exit key? The New York Times · 45d ago
- Belgium's Charles De Ketelaere ends Spain's World Cup shutout run, teams even 1-1 at halftime AP News · 45d ago
🌍 Language by language
This story first appeared in 🇧🇷 Portuguese coverage — 2.1 hours before headlinez.news detected it in English news.
Detected by matching proper nouns and figures that survive translation. Times reflect when each edition's coverage was first indexed.
What happened
Spain has secured a spot in the World Cup semifinals following a victory over Belgium. The match was decided by a late goal from Mikel Merino, which broke a tie and eliminated Belgium from the tournament.
Coverage from Yahoo Sports, the BBC, ESPN, The New York Times, and AP News highlights the performance of Merino, the impact of a defensive error by Lammens, and a goal by Charles De Ketelaere that ended Spain's shutout streak. Business Insider reported on the accessibility of the match broadcast.
Attention now shifts to the upcoming semifinal match. Spain is scheduled to face France, according to reports from ESPN and The New York Times.
Synthesized by headlinez.news from the headlines below under a strict no-invention contract. ✓ fact-checked: all claims supported by sources Updated 44d ago.
Questions people are asking
Who scored the winning goal for Spain?
Mikel Merino scored the late winner.
Who will Spain play in the semifinals?
Spain is set to face France.
What was the score at halftime?
The teams were tied 1-1 at halftime.
Velocity
How fast coverage is spreading — measured hourly from article rate × source diversity. How this works →
Topics
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