Belgium’s 3-2 comeback over Senegal in the round of 32 was one thing. Beating the United States on its own turf, in a raucous Seattle atmosphere, with a World Cup quarterfinal on the line, was another test entirely, and the Red Devils passed it, setting up a date with Spain.
Belgium now advances to face Spain in the quarterfinals on Friday, July 10, at 3 p.m. ET at Los Angeles Stadium, also known as SoFi Stadium, in Inglewood, California. Spain reached that match by getting past Portugal 1-0 earlier Monday.
Should Belgium beat Spain in the quarterfinal, the Red Devils would meet the winner of Thursday’s France-Morocco quarterfinal, set for July 9 in Boston at 4 p.m. ET, in a semifinal showdown on Tuesday, July 14, in Arlington, Texas. A win there would send Belgium to the July 19 final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, against the winner of the England-Norway quarterfinal, Saturday, July 11, in Miami, or the winner of the Argentina/Egypt-Switzerland/Colombia quarterfinal, also Saturday, July 11, in Kansas City.
Spain’s Path to Los Angeles
Spain’s route to the quarterfinals ran through a scoreless deadlock that finally broke in the fourth minute of stoppage time, when Mikel Merino converted a pass from Ferran Torres to beat Portugal. It was the difference in a match Spain otherwise controlled, and it extended a run in which La Roja hadn’t allowed a goal through the tournament. The victory sent Spain to the quarterfinals for the first time since it won the World Cup in 2010.
The loss closed out Cristiano Ronaldo’s international career. He said before the match it would be his last World Cup, and afterward he told reporters, “Whatever happens tomorrow, Cristiano will leave with a clear conscience.” Ronaldo first played in a World Cup in 2006 and became the first player to score in six different World Cups, but Portugal has not made it past the quarterfinals in 20 years.
Belgium will now try to do what Portugal could not, solve a Spain defense that has been the story of its tournament, using Kevin De Bruyne’s passing range and Romelu Lukaku’s physical presence up top to pull that back line out of shape and create room for Jeremy Doku on the counter.
What’s at Stake Beyond Los Angeles
A win over Spain would put Belgium in familiar territory against unfamiliar opposition. France and Morocco meet in Thursday’s quarterfinal in a rematch of the 2022 semifinal, which France won 2-0. Morocco has never advanced this far in the tournament before. Belgium has not reached a World Cup semifinal since 2018, when this same core group of players — Thibaut Courtois, De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans among them — made their run all the way to a third-place finish in Russia.
On the other side of the draw, Norway’s Erling Haaland scored twice to eliminate Brazil in the round of 16, according to the official World Cup quarterfinal bracket, setting up a quarterfinal against England on Saturday in Miami.
For a Belgian squad widely described as playing out its last realistic shot at a title together, the path forward is now set. They have to get past Spain in Inglewood, then find out who is waiting in Texas.
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