Mikel Merino continued his impressive impact from the bench by firing Spain into the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinals with another decisive late goal, as La Roja beat Belgium 2-1 in their quarterfinal at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Friday. Introduced in the 86th minute, the Spain midfielder needed just two minutes to make a difference. Merino capitalized on a rebound in the 88th minute to score what proved to be the winner, sending the 2010 world champions into the last four, where they will face France. The strike came just days after the 30-year-old produced another dramatic cameo in the Round of 16. Against Portugal, Merino was also brought off the bench before scoring the only goal of the match in stoppage time to seal Spain’s passage to the quarterfinals. Those two interventions have now earned Merino a place in FIFA World Cup history. He is the first player to score the winning goal as a substitute in two separate knockout matches in a World Cup. He also became the first footballer to score two match-winning goals for Spain in a FIFA World Cup from the 80th minute onwards. Despite appearing in all six of Spain’s matches at the tournament, Merino was only included in the starting XI once. The midfielder has made five appearances as a substitute, underscoring his growing reputation as Spain’s game-changing option from the bench. His only start in the tournament was against Uruguay on June 26 at the Estadio Akron in Zapopan, where he played 60 minutes before being substituted. Against Belgium, Spain took the lead in the 30th minute when Fabian Ruiz converted after Thibaut Courtois kept out Dani Olmo’s effort following an attack sparked by Lamine Yamal and Pedro Porro. Belgium restored parity before the break as Charles De Ketelaere headed home Timothy Castagne’s cross in the 41st minute. The goal ended Spain’s run of six consecutive World Cup clean sheets and ended goalkeeper Unai Simon’s World Cup streak of 650 consecutive minutes without conceding. The Red Devils suffered a huge loss in the 71st minute when Courtois was forced off through injury after his 21st FIFA World Cup appearance, leaving him second only to Germany legend Manuel Neuer among goalkeepers for World Cup appearances. Spain finally found success late on when Pau Cubarsi’s long effort was tipped over by substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens. Merino was quickest to react to the loose ball and tapped home from close range, delivering another knockout-stage winner. The victory sent Spain to their first FIFA World Cup semifinal since lifting the trophy in South Africa in 2010 and stretched their unbeaten run in regular time to 36 games, a streak that ended against Colombia in 2024.