Spain edge Belgium 2-1 on Merino's late strike — a semi-final with France awaits

This morning's quarter-final

The second quarter-final kicked off at 4 a.m. JST near Los Angeles, and Spain beat Belgium 2-1. Fabián Ruiz put Spain ahead, but La Roja — who had not conceded all tournament — were pegged back by Charles De Ketelaere for their first goal against of the finals. The game stayed level until the 88th minute, when substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens spilled a routine shot and Mikel Merino, on off the bench, pounced on the loose ball to win it.

A keeper's error, a night of Belgian injuries

Belgium were undone as much by fitness as by the scoreline. Captain Youri Tielemans was hurt in the warm-up and dropped from the starting eleven, and first-choice keeper Thibaut Courtois went off injured during the match. It was his stand-in, Lammens, whose late mistake handed Spain the decisive goal.

A tournament without Japan, and what's next (JST)

Spain now meet France — 2-0 winners over Morocco a day earlier — in the semi-final in Arlington on 14 July, an all-European tie. Japan are already out, beaten 1-2 by Brazil on 30 June, so there are no Japan matches left. The other two quarter-finals come in the early hours of 12 July JST: Norway v England at 6 a.m. in Miami, where Erling Haaland faces his mother's homeland, and Argentina v Switzerland at 10 a.m. in Kansas City, with Lionel Messi. Those two decide the second semi-final pairing.