Spain's match against Belgium witnessed many records, after La Roja's success in qualifying for the semi-final round of the 2026 World Cup.
Spain defeated Belgium 2-1 in the match that brought the two teams together yesterday evening, Friday, at Los Angeles Stadium in the United States, in the quarter-final round of the 2026 World Cup.
Among the most prominent records in that match was Spain not suffering any defeat in the presence of the duo Lamine Yamal and Fabian Ruiz, while Luis de la Fuente, La Roja's coach, also broke a remarkable record.
Over the following lines, Yalla Koura reviews the most prominent records witnessed in Spain's victory over Belgium in the 2026 World Cup.
Yamal and Ruiz's talisman
1 - Lamine Yamal (18 years and 362 days) became the third youngest player to play in a World Cup quarter-final after Brazil's Pelé (17 years and 239 days) and Morocco's Ayoub Bouaddi (18 years and 280 days).
2 - Spain won all 11 of its matches in major tournaments when Lamine Yamal was in the starting lineup (European Championship + World Cup).
3 - Fabian Ruiz has never lost in 48 matches with Spain (33 wins and 15 draws).
4 - Rodri made 62 passes that penetrated the defensive line in the final third of the pitch in the 2026 World Cup, the highest number of passes in a single edition since Germany's Toni Kroos in 2014 (also 62).
The distinguished substitute
5 - Mikel Merino eliminated Portugal (in the 90+1 minute) and Belgium (in the 88th minute) with two decisive goals, making him the only player in World Cup history to score two decisive goals in the final five minutes of two knockout matches.
6 - Mikel Merino scored the fastest goal by a Spanish substitute in World Cup history, just 115 seconds after entering the pitch. With this, he surpassed Enrique Saura's record of 159 seconds, which he set against Yugoslavia on June 20, 1982.
De la Fuente's record
7 - Luis de la Fuente became the first coach in history not to lose any of his first 13 matches in a major tournament (World Cup + European Championship) on the bench with a European national team (12 wins, 1 draw).
Belgian statistics
8 - Belgium's goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois became the second most participating goalkeeper in World Cup history with 21 matches, behind leader Manuel Neuer with 23 matches.
9 - Belgium's striker Romelu Lukaku became the third most participating player as a substitute in World Cup history with 9 appearances, after Marcus Rashford and Denílson (11 matches).
10 - Charles De Ketelaere scored the first goal against Spain from open play (not a penalty) in the knockout stages of the World Cup, since Zinedine Zidane did so with France on June 27, 2006.
Spanish achievements
11 - Spain scored 11 goals in the 2026 World Cup, equaling its record in a single edition of the tournament (11 goals in 1986).
12 - This is only the second time that Spain has qualified for the semi-finals of the World Cup, the first being in 2010.
13 - France will face Spain in the World Cup for only the second time in its history, after their match in the round of 16 on June 27, 2006 (France 3-1 Spain).
14 - Spain has not lost in its last 36 matches in all competitions (27 wins and 9 draws), which is the best unbeaten record in its history.
15 - France will face a team that has previously won the World Cup in the semi-finals for the first time since 1986, when it faced Germany.
The United States is hosting the 2026 World Cup, along with Mexico and Canada, with the participation of 48 teams for the first time in the tournament's history, from June 11 to July 19.
