Day 2 of FIFA Quarterfinals; What Could Have Been, What Is, and What Could Be

Injuries, missed chances, and mistakes… what led a team to a victory and what led a team to a disappointing exit. All here in today’s recap! 

Belgium vs Spain

I was talking to my dad about this game beforehand and we both thought the same thing… Spain is going to kill Belgium. It wasn’t us being rude or talking down on Belgium, Spain is just much quicker with the ball. However… We were completely wrong about how strong Belgium was. 

Even with team captain Youri Tielemans out of the game due to an injury sustained during warmups, the Belgian team really did a great job bouncing their offensive attacks off of miscues by the Spanish team. Spain ultimately capitalized on a scoring opportunity by Fabian Ruiz, which was really a great team play with a good passing play on the right side, causing a cross into the box which was hit by Dani Olmo and then a rebound came to Ruiz. The Belgians came right back down the field and scored on another Charles De Ketelaere, which was started by Kevin De Bruyne who made a lovely pass to Timothy Castagne who crossed it into a diving header by De Ketelaere. 

That score settled and the game headed into halftime at 1-1, with Belgium honestly feeling really good about things. Jeremy Doku looked really good, while Lamine Yamal looked really good for Spain. Again, Yamal didn’t score in this game but he was involved in everything! When I think of Belgium I think of their strong substitutes, they have Romelu Lukaku off the bench, and Alexis Saelemaekers. The one substitute they didn’t plan on making was their goaltender. This proved to be the downfall of the Belgian run. Backup goaltender Senne Lammens took over for an injured Thibaut Courtois. Lammens gave up. A huge rebound off of a shot, which led to Mikel Merino scoring yet again for Spain to give them the lead with only 2 minutes left in regulation. Belgium did ultimately put some pressure on in stoppage time, but unfortunately that did fall short. 

Belgium will most likely be losing stars Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, two players who truly left their mark on soccer and the international stage. Spain looks ahead for their future not only in this tournament but for their young star Lamine Yamal, who has consistently gotten better all tournament. He might not be on the scoresheet, but he is making great plays. 

It’s easy to think of the “what could have happened had Tielemans not gotten hurt, or what if Courtois stayed in the game… but neither of those things happened. So we know that Spain will play France in the semifinal, and it’s going to be speed against speed, youth against youth, and a great back line of Spain against a great front line of France. 

For now, we can look forward to two games on Saturday, hopefully both of which are as entertaining, gutwrenching, and crazy as the Belgium vs Spain game was today. Until then, cheers!