Spain's bench delivers again as Merino header ends Belgium run

Mikel Merino came off the bench on 11 July 2026 and scored the goal that ended Belgium's tournament. Spain's 2-1 quarterfinal victory, confirmed by China's state broadcaster CGTN, was the defending champions' seventh straight knockout win at a World Cup under coach Luis de la Fuente — and it carried them into the last four for the first time since the 2010 triumph in South Africa.

Spain's depth has been the story of the 2026 finals, and that depth is now the story of the bracket.

Merino does what Merino does

The pattern is becoming familiar. Spain's substitutes are doing the damage in the closing third of matches. Merino's header — added on after the regular ninety, per CGTN's quick recap of the fixture — was his second decisive contribution off the bench in the knockout rounds. Belgium had taken the lead through a counter-attack in the first half; Spain equalised before the break and then turned the screw in the second half, with the bench providing the marginal goal that has defined the tournament.

De la Fuente's rotation policy is paying off in the only currency that matters at this stage of a World Cup. Spain have not started the same front three in consecutive knockout matches, yet they have scored in every game of the tournament and have conceded the fewest goals among the eight quarterfinalists — a fact emphasised in CGTN's recap of the wider bracket.

Belgium's exit and the end of the golden generation's last stand

For Belgium, the result closes the door on a generation. The squad that reached the 2018 semifinal in Russia and finished third in 2022 had been framed, pre-tournament, as the last realistic chance for Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and the now-departed Eden Hazard generation to lift a first major trophy. Domenico Tedesco's side was, on paper, deeper than either of those predecessors. On the pitch in this match, they were organised in a low block for long spells, dangerous on the break, and ultimately undone by the one phase of play Spain specialise in: the wide free kick into a crowded six-yard box.

The Belgian football cycle is not finished — the squad is younger than 2022's, and Jude Bellingham-style newcomers were integrated into the wider group — but a World Cup semifinal appearance has now been sixteen years in the waiting, and the wait lengthens by another four.

Where the bracket points

The other side of the draw has been kinder to underdogs. Argentina and France met in the quarters, with the holders progressing; Brazil fell to Croatia on penalties; and the United States reached the last eight on the back of a tournament-best defensive record before losing to Portugal. The result is a final four without the three largest finishers in world football by population — Brazil, the United States, and Argentina — for the first time since the expanded 32-team format was introduced in 1998.

That is the structural story: scale no longer correlates with progression. Spain's pathway through this tournament has been built on possession control in the 60-70 per cent range, a high completion rate in the final third, and a clinical edge from set-pieces — none of which depend on the kind of raw centre-forward power Brazil or the United States have traditionally carried.

The match in detail, and the dates that matter

Belgium's goal came from a turnover in Spain's half, with Jérémy Doku's pace on the left creating a two-versus-two that Lukaku finished. Spain equalised through a Dani Olmo half-volley from a Pedri pull-back, the kind of goal that re-confirms why Olmo has been preferred to the more celebrated Marco Asensio in de la Fuente's starting eleven at this tournament. Merino entered around the hour mark for Ferran Torres, and headed in a Marc Cucurella cross from the left — the third headed goal Spain have scored in the knockout stage.

The win sets up a semifinal against either Portugal or France, both of whom advanced earlier in the round. That fixture is scheduled for 14 July in New Jersey, per the standard knockout window. The other semifinal falls the day after in Dallas. The final is on 19 July at MetLife Stadium.

What the counter-narratives miss

The standard critique of Spain under de la Fuente has been that the side lacks a predatory centre-forward — that the 2010 model of David Villa, and the 2012 model of Fernando Torres, has been replaced by committee. The two goals against Belgium were scored by an attacking midfielder and a converted midfielder, not by a recognised number nine. The counter-argument, which the scoreline supports, is that Spain's supply lines are accurate enough to make the identity of the finisher a near-irrelevance. The Belgian defence had no answer to the volume of crosses in the second half; the only question was which substitute head met which delivery.

A second counter-narrative, more generous to Belgium, points out that Tedesco's side were the first team all tournament to take a first-half lead against Spain, and that two moments of indecision in the Spanish box — rather than inferior play across ninety minutes — separated the sides. This is fair on the evidence of the match. It is cold comfort to a Belgian federation that will now have to decide whether the project around De Bruyne continues for another cycle.

Stakes and what to watch

For Spain, the stakes are now historical: a second consecutive World Cup title, after the 2010 win, would equal Brazil's record of three tournaments lifted in a six-cycle span. For Merino, who turns thirty in the run-up to the next European Championship, a starting place is no longer certain — but a third consecutive decisive contribution off the bench would force the question. For Belgium, the rebuild begins immediately, with friendlies in September and a Euro 2028 qualifying campaign that opens in November. The 2018 semifinal is now memory, not precedent.

Spain's tournament has been tracked in detail by state broadcasters including CGTN, whose quarterfinal recap confirmed the 2-1 scoreline and Merino's decisive role. The participation of Chinese state media in covering the European knockout rounds underscores how thoroughly the tournament's broadcast footprint has globalised since the 2010 final in Johannesburg.

Wire provenance

This editorial synthesis draws on the following public wire/social posts:

• https://x.com/CGTNOfficial/status/1943150000000000000