Spain vs Belgium
Spain edge Belgium in tight World Cup clash
Mikel Merino's late strike seals a narrow 2-1 victory for Spain.
Spain secured a hard-fought 2-1 win over Belgium in the World Cup, with Fabián Ruiz opening the scoring before C. De Ketelaere levelled for Belgium. The match was ultimately decided by Mikel Merino's decisive goal in the 88th minute. Fipster's prediction of a home win was spot on, though the exact scoreline proved a bit optimistic.
Analysis
Spain face Belgium in a tantalising quarter-final encounter at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Both teams have shown resilience and quality to reach this stage, but Spain's recent form and squad depth give them the edge.
Spain have appeared in 16 World Cups, lifting the trophy once in 2010, while Belgium have 14 appearances with their best finish being third place in 2018. Spain topped their qualifying group and boast a squad entirely composed of players from Europe's top five leagues, including stars like Rodri and Fabián Ruiz. Belgium also qualified directly, with a strong squad featuring Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, though with a slightly lower share of top-tier league players.
Spain's recent tournament form is impressive, with four wins and a draw, conceding no goals in five matches. Belgium have a solid record as well, with two wins and three draws. Spain's defensive solidity and attacking threat, led by Mikel Oyarzabal's prolific scoring, provide a moderate calibre advantage. Belgium's attacking talents like Lukaku and Trossard have been consistent, but Spain's balance and squad quality are likely to prevail.
Prediction
Expect Spain to take an early lead, reflected in a 1-0 halftime score, before extending their advantage to a 3-1 victory by full time. The match should feature a typical knockout stage discipline level, with around three cards expected. Confidence in this outcome is high at 89%.
Outcome probability
Key Insights
Spain's home scoring streak and clean sheets
Spain has scored in all last 5 games and kept 5 consecutive clean sheets at home, indicating strong attack and defense balance.
Oyarzabal's prolific home scoring form
Oyarzabal scored 8 goals in last 5 home games, well above league attacker average, boosting Spain's goal threat.
Belgium's away scoring consistency
Belgium scored in last 2 away games with Lukaku and Trossard leading, showing good attacking form on the road.
Belgium missing defender Z. Debast
Debast's absence weakens Belgium's defense, potentially increasing Spain's scoring opportunities.
Key Takeaways
Spain's blend of defensive resilience and attacking prowess should see them through this quarter-final test against Belgium. While Belgium will pose threats, Spain's superior squad calibre and recent form make them favourites to progress to the semi-finals.
- Spain have appeared in 16 World Cups, winning once in 2010.
- Belgium have appeared in 14 World Cups, with their best finish third place in 2018.
- Spain qualified directly, topping their group with 16 points and a +19 goal difference.
- Belgium also qualified directly, topping their group with 18 points and a +22 goal difference.
- Spain's squad is entirely composed of players from top-5 European leagues.
- Belgium's squad has 20 of 26 players from top-5 European leagues.
- Spain have kept clean sheets in all 5 matches played in this tournament so far.
- Spain's recent form in the tournament is W4 D1, while Belgium's is W2 D3.
Player Insights
Standout players Fipster expects to impact the match — curated highlights, not full squad lists
Home — Spain
Away — Belgium
Form as the teams went into this match — excludes this result and anything since.
Team Comparison
Season shape — attack, defence, form, clean sheets & win rate
Home vs Away comparison
Goal difference in each of the last few fixtures — above the line is a net win, below is a net loss
Season comparison
Goals scored & conceded, goal difference and clean sheets across the season
Halftime Performance
What each side does once the whistle goes for half time
Streaks
Recent-form runs — each side’s most-recent game meets in the middle
Head to Head
FIFA world ranking
Ruiz
De Ketelaere
Assist: Castagne
Cubarsí Paredes
Yellow Card
Álex Baena
Ruiz
Vanaken
Trossard
De Cuyper
Courtois
Oyarzabal
De Bruyne
Yellow Card
De Bruyne
Dani Olmo
Merino
Aymeric Laporte
Yellow Card
Witsel
Yellow Card
Match Statistics
Spain
4-2-3-1Starting XI
- 8Fabián RuizM
- 10Dani OlmoM
- 12Pedro PorroD
- 14Aymeric LaporteD
- 15Álex BaenaM
- 16RodriM
- 19Lamine YamalM
- 21Mikel OyarzabalF
- 22Pau Cubarsí ParedesD
- 23Unai SimónG
- 24Marc CucurellaD
Substitutes
- 1David RayaG
- 2Marc PubillD
- 3Álex GrimaldoD
- 4Eric GarcíaD
- 5Marcos LlorenteM
- 6Mikel MerinoM
- 7Ferran TorresF
- 9GaviM
- 11Yeremy PinoM
- 13Joan GarcíaG
- 17Nico WilliamsF
- 18Martín ZubimendiM
- 20PedriM
- 25Víctor MuñozF
- 26Borja IglesiasF
Belgium
4-2-3-1Starting XI
- 1Thibaut Nicolas Marc CourtoisG
- 4Brandon MecheleD
- 5Maxim De CuyperD
- 7Kevin De BruyneM
- 10Leandro TrossardM
- 11Jérémy Baffour DokuM
- 17Charles Marc De KetelaereF
- 20Hans VanakenM
- 21Timothy CastagneD
- 23Nicolas Thierry RaskinM
- 25Nathan NgoyD
Substitutes
- 3Arthur Nicolas TheateD
- 6Axel Laurent Angel Lambert WitselM
- 9Romelu Menama Lukaku BolingoliF
- 12Senne LammensG
- 13Mike Louis PendersG
- 14Dodi Lukebakio NgandoliF
- 15Thomas André A. MeunierD
- 16Koni De WinterD
- 18Joaquin SeysD
- 19Diego MoreiraF
- 22Alexis Jesse SaelemaekersF
- 26Matias Fernandez-PardoF
Spain
| Player | Pos | Min | Rating | G | A | Shots | SoT | Key Passes | Dribbles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodri(C) | M | 94 | 7.3 | — | — | — | — | 2 | — |
| Dani Olmo | M | 86 | 7.3 | — | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2/3 |
| Lamine Yamal | M | 94 | 7.3 | — | — | 4 | 2 | — | 3/6 |
| Fabián Ruiz | M | 55 | 7.3 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Pau Cubarsí | D | 94 | 7.0 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 2 | — |
| Mikel Oyarzabal | F | 79 | 6.9 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 2 | — |
| Alex Baena | M | 55 | 6.9 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0/1 |
| Aymeric Laporte | D | 94 | 6.6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pedro Porro | D | 94 | 6.6 | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 1/1 |
| Marc Cucurella | D | 94 | 6.5 | — | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| Unai Simón | G | 94 | 6.5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Substitutes | |||||||||
| Eric García | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pablo Gavi | M | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Víctor Muñoz | F | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Marc Pubill | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Yéremy Pino | M | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Joan García | G | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Borja Iglesias | F | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Martín Zubimendi | M | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| David Raya | G | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Alejandro Grimaldo | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Marcos Llorente | M | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pedri | M | 39 | 7.0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| Mikel Merino | M | 8 | 6.9 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| Nico Williams | F | 15 | 6.3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ferran Torres | F | 39 | 6.3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Belgium
| Player | Pos | Min | Rating | G | A | Shots | SoT | Key Passes | Dribbles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thibaut Courtois | G | 71 | 7.9 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Charles De Ketelaere | F | 94 | 7.7 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| Nathan Ngoy | D | 94 | 7.0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Brandon Mechele | D | 94 | 6.9 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jérémy Doku | M | 94 | 6.7 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 4/9 |
| Timothy Castagne | D | 94 | 6.6 | — | 1 | — | — | 1 | — |
| Kevin De Bruyne(C) | M | 86 | 6.6 | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| Hans Vanaken | M | 60 | 6.3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nicolas Raskin | M | 94 | 6.3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Leandro Trossard | M | 60 | 6.3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Maxim De Cuyper | D | 61 | 6.3 | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1/1 |
| Substitutes | |||||||||
| Diego Moreira | F | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mike Penders | G | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Thomas Meunier | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Matías Fernández-Pardo | F | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dodi Lukebakio | F | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Koni De Winter | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Arthur Theate | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Alexis Saelemaekers | F | 8 | 6.7 | — | — | — | — | — | 1/1 |
| Joaquin Seys | D | 33 | 6.5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Axel Witsel | M | 34 | 6.5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Romelu Lukaku | F | 34 | 6.3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Senne Lammens | G | 23 | 6.0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |