Lamine Yamal Gets 7/10 | Spanish Players Rated After Their 2-1 Win Vs Belgium In The FIFA World Cup 2026

Lamine Yamal Gets 7/10 | Spanish Players Rated After Their 2-1 Win Vs Belgium In The FIFA World Cup 2026 Los Angeles. Absolute boiling heat. A match that felt like a tactical chess game played at hypersonic speed. Spain are through to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 , but bloody hell, they had to sweat for it against a ridiculously stubborn Belgium side. Luis de la Fuente pulled a rabbit out of the hat before kick-off, throwing Fabián Ruiz into the engine room. It paid off massively. Just after the half-hour mark, the midfielder bustled forward, sniffed out a loose ball after a Dani Olmo shot was saved, and smashed it home. Merino late show breaks Belgian hearts as Spain march into World Cup semi-finals Belgium weren’t dead yet, though. Right before the break, Charles De Ketelaere rose like a skyscraper to nod home a thumping equaliser, snapping Unai Simón’s historic tournament clean-sheet streak. The second half was pure agony. Attritional. Grinding. Then came the 88th minute. Substitute Mikel Merino darted into the box, got on the end of a cross, and stabbed home the winner. Absolute pandemonium. Here is how the Spanish players rated on a dramatic afternoon in California. The starting XI Unai Simón — 6/10 Had a mostly quiet afternoon picking up routine crosses. Could do absolutely nothing about De Ketelaere’s bullet header that ruined his clean-sheet record. Pedro Porro — 7/10 An absolute engine down the right flank. He bombed forward constantly and created the opening goal with a wicked, low cross into the box. Pau Cubarsí — 5/10 A rough day at the office for the youngster. He looked out of his depth against the physical Belgian front line, got dragged out of position for the equaliser, and picked up a silly yellow card for pulling shorts. Aymeric Laporte — 6/10 Kept things relatively organised at the back with his usual veteran cool. The downside? His passing was far too slow, which routinely killed off potential Spanish counter-attacks. Picked up a tactical booking in stoppage time. Marc Cucurella — 7/10 Immense energy on the left. He locked down his side of the pitch defensively and linked up brilliantly with his midfielders using quick, sharp passes. Rodri — 8/10 The best defensive midfielder on the planet, bar none. He controlled the entire speed of the game, sat in front of the back four, and single-handedly stopped three or four dangerous Belgian breaks before they even started. Fabián Ruiz — 8/10 A surprise selection that proved a masterstroke. Showed brilliant instincts to react first to a loose ball and rifle Spain into the lead. Lamine Yamal — 7/10 INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JULY 10: Lamine Yamal #19 of Spain acknowledges the crowd after the 2-1 win during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarter Final match between Spain and Belgium at Los Angeles Stadium on July 10, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) Scared his marker half to death every time he touched the ball. Left defenders trailing with his pace, and was desperately unlucky to see a beautiful curling effort whip just past the post. Dani Olmo — 6/10 Smart movement between the lines. His initial shot led directly to Ruiz’s goal, but a nasty clash of heads in the second half clearly knocked him off his stride. Álex Baena — 6/10 Did the dirty work willingly, tracking back and helping his fullback. Just lacked that final bit of magic needed to unlock a very deep, compact Belgian defence. Mikel Oyarzabal — 5/10 Completely starved of service. He spent 90 minutes getting battered by physical centre-backs and failed to get a single shot on target before getting subbed. The substitutes Ferran Torres — 6/10 Brought proper directness to the wide areas. His fresh legs stretched a tiring Belgian defence during the final 30 minutes. Pedri — 7/10 Changed the game when he came on. He calmed everything down, demanded the ball, and unlocked passing lanes that didn’t even look open from the stands. Nico Williams — 6/10 Terrified Belgium with his pace. His introduction forced the opposition backline to drop deep into their own box out of pure fear. Mikel Merino — 8/10 The ultimate super-sub performance. Showed ice-cold composure to pop up in the box in the 88th minute and smash home the winner. He is what Arteta calls his substitutes, a ”finisher”. De la Fuente played his cards perfectly from the dugout. When the game looked like it was drifting towards extra time, his bench provided the definitive answers.