Nothing gold can stay, indeed, but Belgium’s greatest generation did themselves proud in a North American swansong. The manager, Rudi Garcia, and his players recovered from a thorny group stage to give Spain a stern test in this quarter-final, with Belgium only bowing out after their vital veterans were forced out of action.
Friday’s warm-up compounded Garcia’s struggles to pick his ideal team. Amadou Onana entered the stadium on crutches, the victim of a torn ACL in the last-16 win over the USA. Zeno Debast was omitted as Belgium and Sporting disagreed on whether the defender was fit enough to play, having only made the bench once this summer. Minutes before kick-off, the big blow: Youri Tielemans being erased from the teamsheet after suffering an injury in the warm-up.
Jérémy Doku returned to the lineup and looked far livelier than he had throughout the group stage. The winger relished his match-up with Pedro Porro, finding ample space to collect the ball between the right-back and Lamine Yamal before incisively cutting into the channels to drag Spain’s midfield out of position.
Unfortunately, his proactiveness left him a step behind Porro when Spain were at their most direct. With Maxim De Cuyper marking Lamine Yamal, Doku tried in vain to slow Porro as he readied for a cross after the hydration break. Moments later Fábian Ruiz dispatched the ball into the net.
Spain began toying with the Belgians on the ball, bypassing any overzealous converging defenders before a runner sprinted into the ceded space to maximize the impact. And yet, Belgium refused to become the match’s passengers.
After his double in the last 16, Charles De Ketelaere showed how training with Romelu Lukaku has refined his approach up top. In the 39th minute, the Atalanta forward fell as Aymeric Laporte slowed his attempt to set up for a throw-in at the edge of Belgium’s attacking third. Two minutes later, the ball returned to Belgium’s right flank as De Bruyne threaded a pass to Timothy Castagne. The left-back crossed it to a diving De Ketelaere, who deftly got on the near side of Pau Cabarsí to head home an equalizer with his side’s first shot on target.
While Spain was quick to re-establish their possessiveness over the match, Belgium found success when operating off of Doku’s dribble. While little else was working for the Manchester City winger, perhaps still hampered by his earlier respiratory infection, his carries opened space for De Cuyper and other midfielders. Belgium nearly found a second goal as Doku worked a give-and-go with De Bruyne, but a deflected attempt fell to De Cuyper who failed to convert.
Garcia’s side showed far greater resolve than the side that went out in the group stage in Qatar four years ago and fell in the last 16 of Euro 2024. Trossard was hooked after an ineffective hour as part of a triple change and was replaced by Lukaku as De Ketelaere moved wide. Axel Witsel checked in simultaneously, putting all four veterans of the 2014 World Cup squad on the pitch with half an hour to go.
Belgium hustled to fill any ceded pockets of space. Gradually, the old guard looked overrun. While Thibaut Courtois proved vital, a falling save just before the second-half hydration break left him massaging his left hip on the ground. After trying to resume his post, he required a 71st minute exit that left him in tears as fans of both nations stood to applaud a modern great. He was replaced by Senne Lammens.
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Kevin De Bruyne struggled with his fitness as well, taking a seat after a speculative 80th minute lob. He drew a yellow card five minutes later after a clumsy challenge on Ferran Torres, with Garcia using his final substitution to replace the veteran before Spain could further exploit his hobbles.
Ultimately, Courtois’s heir apparent was unable to complete the job. Cubarsí took a speculative attempt from outside the box, which Lammens was unable to claim and spilled back into the heart of the box. Mikel Merino was quickest to it, poaching the loose ball and powering it above a kneeling Lammens to send Spain to their first semi-final since 2010.
While Courtois may make the next World Cup as an elder statesman, this will surely be the final tournament for multiple members of Belgium’s best batch of talent to date. The old guard fought valiantly on Friday, forcing the European champions into a stern test until the final whistle. Although the result does little to swat away suggestions of underperformance in past tournaments, Garcia’s men did themselves proud to the very end.
