After Belgium was eliminated in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup despite being the second-ranked team in the world at that time, its golden generation was largely presumed to be over. In that era, the Red Devils produced a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup and quarterfinals appearances in both EURO 2016 and 2020.
Perhaps, that generation has one last gasp. Belgium advanced to the quarterfinals of this tournament after defeating Senegal and the United States, and it has a chance to make the semifinals if it can defeat Spain in Los Angeles at 3 p.m. ET.
The winner will go on to face France in the semifinals next Tuesday after Les Bleus knocked out Morocco, the 2022 fourth-place finisher, on Thursday.
Throughout the World Cup, DraftKings Network will be highlighting several of the tournament’s marquee matchups, breaking down every goal and major moment. Here’s how this all-European affair played out:
Spain vs. Belgium odds
La Roja are -165 favorites to win in regular time (-340 to advance to the semifinals) at DraftKings Sportsbook, and the Red Devils are +475 (+260 to advance). There are +285 odds that the match will not be settled in 90 minutes.
Tracking Spain vs. Belgium
Follow along as DKNetwork tracks the quarterfinal match between Spain and Belgium! This section will be updated.
FT: AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE TIME ADDED! SPAIN IS MOVING ON TO THE WORLD CUP SEMIFINALS, AND IT WILL BE AN EPIC SEMIFINAL BETWEEN LA ROJA AND FRANCE!
90’+6: UNAI SIMÓN DROPPED A CROSS RIGHT IN FRONT OF ROMELU LUKAKU, AND THE CROWD ROSE IN ANTICIPATION! BUT, THANKFULLY FOR SPANISH FANS, IT WAS BLOWN DEAD DUE TO A FOUL ON LUKAKU!
90’+5: That was a pretty vrutal challenge by Axel Witsel on Rodri, and he received a yellow card! Arguably, he was lucky not to receive a red, given how high his spikes were.
90’+2: OH MY GOSH, THAT WAS ALMOST IT FOR BELGIUM! UNAI SIMÓN WAS WAY OFF HIS LINE, BUT THE CROSS WASN’T COMPLETED!
88′: MIKEL MERINO IS INEVITABLE, AND NOW SPAIN IS ALMOST GUARANTEED TO GO THROUGH TO THE SEMIFINALS! PAU CUBARSÍ SHOT ONE FROM DISTANCE, AND LAMMENS COULDN’T CORRAL IT ENOUGH! MERINO WAS THERE FOR THE REBOUND! HEARTBREAK ONCE AGAIN FOR THIS GOLDEN GENERATION OF RED DEVILS!
86′: A change for La Roja as well: Mikel Merino is on for Dani Olmo! Remember, Merino recorded the winner against Portugal in stoppage time in the last match!
85′: And now that’s a card for Kevin de Bruyne, who’s been shown a yellow. He’ll be substituted off for Alexis Saelemaekers, and that could be it for his World Cup career!
84′: Unai Simón was way off his line, and Kevin de Bruyne went for it from distance! Only a great block from Rodri stopped that one from challenging the net and potentially turning into a winner for the Red Devils!
79′: For the first time in the knockout rounds, Nico Williams is in, coming on for Mikel Oyarzabal! Williams had a tremendous partnership with Yamal in Spain’s Euros triumph in 2024, so the young winger duo will try to produce something special over the last 10 minutes plus stoppage time!
77′: La Roja have kept the pressure on across the last few minutes, but Belgium’s defense hasn’t yet broken! Lammens hasn’t yet been called into duty.
71′: 20 minutes to play! Big news for the Red Devils: Thibaut Courtois has sustained an injury and will now have to come off for Senne Lammens! For an odds update, Spain is still heavily favored to advance, but now it’s equally as likely that La Roja will win in regular time as it is that extra time will be required!
64′: That really could’ve been an important tackle by Nicolas Raskin! Yamal had managed to get a touch in the box and was prepared to shoot, but Raskin got to it first!
62′: Mikel Oyarzabal nearly scored! Yamal had his way against Seys, who had just come into the game, and Oyarzabal couldn’t quite beat Thibaut Courtois past his near post! Still, Spain is pushing for a winner! Could it come soon?
60′: Some changes for the Red Devils, now: Leandro Trossard, Hans Venaken, and Maxim de Cuyper are done for the afternoon, and now Romelu Lukaku, Axel Witsel, and Joaquin Seys are coming in!
55′: That was a great opportunity there for Belgium! Kevin de Bruyne laid it off to Doku, who found Maxim de Cuyper, and he fired it into the side of the net! Luis de la Fuente has seen enough, pulling Álex Baena and Fabián Ruiz for Pedri and Ferrán Torres.
52′: Another of Yamal’s shots was blocked! Curucella laid it off to him at the top of the box (or perhaps just lost it), and Yamal fired away to earn a corner for Spain!
48′: Yamal was one-on-one with Thibaut Courtois, and Courtois blocked him! It didn’t matter in the end, though, because Yamal was offsides!
46′: We’re back underway! Can either team find a winner, or will this match be decided by extra time?
HT: And that’ll do it for the first 45 minutes of action! It’s all to play for in the second half, as the scoreline reads 1-1. The odds remain basically unchanged, as La Roja are still -150 favorites to win on the Moneyline and -390 to go through, but a draw is now +220! In the first half, Spain attempted nine shots worth 1.08 expected goals and put two on target, while Belgium attempted two shots worth 0.18 expected goals, scoring on its only shot on target!
45’+5: Some nice dribbling there by Jérémy Doku…but it turned into nothing, and his attempted cross ended up going across the touch line.
45’+2: What a great interception by Dani Olmo! Jérémy Doku was in behind, and Doku is one of the fastest players in the world, so that easily could’ve turned into a go-ahead goal for the Red Devils.
43′: We now have the first card of the match! Pau Cubarsí grabbed his man’s shirt while on the ground to earn a caution. Cards will be wiped after this match, so he won’t miss the semifinal unless he commits another card-worthy offense.
41′: IT’S ALL TIED UP! 1-1! LA ROJA HAVE FINALLY CONCEDED AT THIS WORLD CUP! AND YET AGAIN, IT’S CHARLES DE KETELAERE, PUTTING HIMSELF IN THE RIGHT POSITIONS AND FINISHING WITH HIS HEAD RIGHT AT THE NEAR POST! WHAT A WELL-TIMED RUN, AND A BRILLIANT ASSIST FROM TIMOTHY CASTAGNE! BELGIUM IS BACK IN THIS GAME!
40′: Oh, what a great cut inside by Lamine Yamal, who earned space from Doku near the right corner of the 18-yard-box! His shot curled on the wrong side of the near post, but that was just a foot from being a 2-0 lead for Spain!
35′: YAMAL WENT FOR IT! Courtois made a solid save low and to his right to deny him and keep the Red Devils in this contest!
34′: WHAT A RIDICULOUS DRIBBLE BY LAMINE YAMAL! He completely deked Jérémy Doku, who then fouled him right at the top of the box! You’d have to imagine Yamal will be shooting from here…
30′: IT CAN ALL CHANGE SO QUICKLY IN THIS GAME! NOW SPAIN HAS A 1-0 LEAD! DANI OLMO GOT A GREAT LOOK FROM THE CENTER OF THE BOX FROM PEDRO PORRO, AND WHILE THIBAUT COURTOIS MADE THE SAVE, THE REBOUND FELL RIGHT TO FABIÁN RUIZ! LA ROJA HAVE ONE FOOT IN THE SEMIFINAL! LAMINE YAMAL’S HIT-AHEAD TO PORRO PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN THAT GOAL TOO!
26′: We’re back underway! Will either team be able to find a goal between now and the end of the first half? In the Round of 16, Spain took until stoppage time of the second half to finally nab a winner against Portugal.
23′: It’s now time for the hydration break! La Roja have been the better team so far, managing three shots worth 0.34 expected goals to Belgium’s one shot (0.04 expected goals), and the odds haven’t changed much overall. Spain is still a -350 favorite to end up advancing to the semifinals.
21′: Yamal got a good opportunity on his favored left foot right above the top of the box, but he whipped it past the far post! It technically went down as his first shot of the game (his free kick earlier was ruled a pass), but it wasn’t a very effective one.
18′: Both Maxim De Cuyper and Pedro Porro went down in the box, but the foul was given against De Cuyper! Free kick going the other way for Spain to end a promising chance for the Red Devils.
15′: Belgium, with its first shot of the game! That was Charles De Ketelaere, who crushed United States dreams with two goals in the first half, but it was immediately blocked by Marc Cucurella, who’s had a tremendous tournament.
13′: That was another great move there and an excellent ball by Pau Cubarsí to find Álex Baena in the box! His shot was immediately blocked, and he might’ve been offsides anyway, but that’s the special sort of play that has defined Cubarsí so far this tournament.
10′: Yamal went for it from a free kick near the left side of the box, and while it was blocked, it was cycled it around until it found Rodri near the penalty box! His shot, too, was blocked!
9′: There still haven’t been any shots in this game, and that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, especially on Spain’s end. La Roja haven’t yet conceded in this tournament, and Unai Simón has only faced five shots on target! Spain has three of the world’s best goalkeepers in Simón, David Raya, and Joan García, but it might be able to win without any goalkeepers at all.
5′: Spain has definitely been the more aggressive of the two sides so far, as Marc Cucurella was already caught offsides in the box in the third minute and now Lamine Yamal nearly got a touch inside the box.
1′: And we’re underway now in Los Angeles! What will this quarterfinal clash have in store? Some big lineup news for both teams: Pedri is out of La Roja’s lineup, and Fabián Ruiz is in! As for the Red Devils, Youri Tielemans sustained an injury in warmups and is out.
Additional World Cup Coverage
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NOTE: Prop bet rulings are subject to official scoring and could change after the match.