Picture : Mikel Merino scored the fastest goal by a Spanish substitute in the history of the World Cup: just 1 minute 55 seconds after entering the pitch.
World Cup 2026 Statistics – Day 30 (July 10) – Quarter-final
Spain vs Belgium 2-1
*Spain advanced to the world’s top four national teams for the 3rd time, after:
1950: took 4th place in the final group stage
2010: became champions
*Spain equaled their goal-scoring record at World Cups: 11 goals in 6 games.
They scored 11 also in 1986 (in 5 matches), and 10 in three editions (1950, 1994, 2002).
*Both sides came to this game with a long unbeaten run:
Spain 35-match (26 wins and 9 draws; last defeat: 0-1 against Colombia in March 2024),
Belgium 18-match (12 wins and 6 draws; last defeat: 1-3 against Ukraine in March 2025).
Spain are now unbeaten in 36 consecutive matches, in just one step from Italy’s world record of 37.
Spain’s previous longest unbeaten streak was 35 games, between February 2007 and June 2009.
*Spain were last defeated by Belgium in 1980 (1-2, Euro group stage). They had 9 wins and 3 draws in 12 games vs Belgium since then.
*Only Mexico (18) have appeared in more World Cup editions than Belgium (15) without ever winning the tournament.
*Fabian Ruiz is the 8th PSG player to score at the 2026 World Cup: more than from any other club.
*Fabian Ruiz has never lost in his 48 appearances for Spain (33 wins, 15 draws).
*Belgium’s Charles De Ketelaere became the 2nd player with the multiple headed goals at this World Cup, along with Harry Kane (3).
*Both goalkeepers’ longest unbeaten streaks in the World Cup history were broken by Atalanta players.
On 3 July 1990, Claudio Caniggia (then an Atalanta player) ended Walter Zenga’s unbeaten run, leaving his mark at 516 minutes.
Past night, De Ketelaere ended Unai Simón’s streak, setting the record at 649 minutes.
*Charles de Ketelaere is the first player to score against Spain other than via a penalty in a World Cup knockout match since Zinédine Zidane did so for France in 2006.
*Mikel Merino eliminated Portugal (90+1st minute) and Belgium (88th minute) with two decisive winning goals.
He is the only player in the history of the World Cup to have scored 2 winning goals in the final 5 minutes of two knockout-stage matches.
He also scored in extra time during the Euro 2024 quarter-final against Germany (also as a substitute and in extra time).
David Villa is the only other player to score in 2 knockout matches (in 2010) for Spain at a World Cup. He also did so in the round of 16 and the quarter-finals.
*Merino scored the fastest goal by a Spanish substitute in the history of the World Cup: just 1 minute 55 seconds after entering the pitch.
He surpassed the record held by Enrique Saura, who needed 2 minutes 39 seconds to score against Yugoslavia on 20 June 1982.
*Lamine Yamal has made his sixth World Cup appearance: most by a player aged 18 or younger in the competition.
*Luis de la Fuente became the first coach in history to remain unbeaten in his first 13 major tournament matches (World Cup, Euro) while managing a European nation (12 wins, 1 draw).
*France and Spain will face each other in the World Cup for the second time in history, following their round of 16 clash on 27 June 2006 (France won 3-1).
That match actually marked Spain’s only knockout-stage defeat in the competition in XXI century.
*Spain have lost only two of their 12 competitive semi-final matches in history (against the USA in the 2009 Confederations Cup and against Italy at Euro 2020).