In this quarterfinal match, Belgium will have to work very hard to break through Spain's defense, as no opposing team has yet managed to score a goal against Spain in the tournament.
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European champions Spain, eager for a World Cup football semifinal clash with Kylian Mbappé’s France, will face Belgium at 12:45 am on Saturday.
Belgium will have to work hard to break through Spain’s defense in this quarterfinal match, as no opposing team has managed to score against Spain in the tournament so far. The winner of this match will face France in the semifinal in Texas on Tuesday, a match being dubbed the “final before the final.”
Spain will need to look for an early goal against Belgium. Belgium, who had a slow start to this World Cup, has been asserting its candidacy as the tournament progresses. Under the coaching of Rudi Garcia, Belgium shattered host America’s dreams with a 4–1 victory in the round of 16.
Team Belgium
Spain, who won their only World Cup title in South Africa in 2010, has yet to find their full attacking edge. Cape Verde, making their World Cup debut, held Spain to a goalless draw in their first match. However, Spain has been dominating opponents with ball possession.
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, who will turn 19 next week, is a key player in Spain’s attack. However, he arrived in America carrying an injury, which has affected his performance. He has managed to score only one goal in five matches. Yamal, who is compared to players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, is struggling to find the net.
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente
“We know about his best version, which is the attacking Lamine, but we have not seen that in this World Cup yet. The level at which we have seen him before, we have not seen that level in the World Cup,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente about Yamal.
Taking advantage of Yamal’s inability to find his scoring rhythm, Mikel Oyarzabal has already scored four goals, two of which came in the round of 32 match against Austria. Spain has faced only six shots in five matches.
Belgium had a slow start in the group stage matches, with their experienced players appearing fatigued. In the round of 32 match against Senegal, the team showed mental strength. Belgium showed courage after trailing 2–0. After Romelu Lukaku came on in the second half and Youri Tielemans scored the winning goal, Belgium won the match 3–2.
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia
For Belgium’s golden generation, including Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, and Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois, this World Cup is seen as their last opportunity. Coach Rudi Garcia is satisfied with Belgium’s status as “underdogs.”
“Everyone was saying we would go home, but we believed we could do it. We still feel we can do it. We will all try our best to reach the semifinals,” said Garcia.
