The teenage sensation Lamine Yamal was out of luck: for all his efforts, he could not find a goal. But his Spain side won, and Belgium went out. Football history had cast the match as one of revenge – 40 years ago, Spain lost to Belgium in a World Cup quarterfinal – and the tie carried plenty of anticipation. On one side was Yamal; on the other, Jeremy Doku, Manchester City’s left winger and Belgium’s attacking spark, who also went without a goal but lit up the field.
In the closing minutes, Spain produced the decisive twist. Just before the final whistle, substitute Mikel Merino scored, seizing on a mistake to confirm Belgium’s exit. Merino was the Spanish star of the match and the hero of the win – skilled in passing and ball control and effective in both defense and attack. His father, Angel Merino, was also a professional footballer, and the younger Merino had been part of Spain’s Euro 2024-winning squad.
Belgium’s misfortune had begun when goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois left the field injured and was replaced by Senne Lammens. Courtois had kept out many efforts, but Lammens could not build the same wall; a ball that spilled from his hands allowed Arsenal’s Merino to seal Spain’s place in the semifinals. With it went the golden generation of Belgian football – a group said to have carried Belgium far, dreaming of proving the country a genuine force at the World Cup. That dream died at Lammens’s hands. Football throws up many things, but fairy-tale endings are rare – and there was nothing like one at SoFi Stadium.
Yamal attacked the Belgian defense from the start, but Belgium repeatedly broke up his plans; he took many shots without beating the goalkeeper, failed from a free kick and missed another chance. His luck was so poor that he could not join the race for the Golden Boot. Yet the way Spain are playing – and the way fortune is favoring them – suggests they will go far. There was proof of that earlier: after conceding to Japan at the Qatar World Cup, Spain went 649 minutes without letting in a goal, though Belgium ended that long run in the 41st minute here. Some 70,000 spectators at the Los Angeles stadium enjoyed the contest.
What now? Spain must face Kylian Mbappe, and the football world is waiting eagerly to see the battle between Mbappe and Yamal.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report