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Key events
Starting lineups are coming up shortly but Belgium’s preparations have involved a dispute with Sporting over the fitness of Zeno Debast. The centre-back was on the bench for the first time this World Cup against the USA after missing the start of the tournament with an injury. His club maintain that he is not fit to play and the Belgian FA said “this assessment differs from that of the Red Devils’ medical staff”. Belgium appear to have bowed to Sporting’s wishes and the FA said he would not play in this quarter-final.
As mentioned, an ominous France team await the winners of this one after they eased past a pretty meek Morocco in Boston yesterday.
Jonathan Wilson was there:
How can you stop France? You can defend with great organisation and concentration, block and tackle and harry and work, your keeper can make two or three excellent saves, and then one of their forwards conjures a goal like that.
And so was Raphaël Jucobin:
In his pre-match press conference, Deschamps conceded that his team could still improve in front of goal. “The better the quality of the opponent, the more clinical you have to be,” he underlined. As Les Bleus prepare to leave the east coast for the first time since their arrival in the US for their semi-final in Dallas, there is a sense that they will be leaving the comfort zone they have established both on and off the pitch.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the second quarter-final of the 2026 World Cup. After dealing with the USA (and everything else) in the last 16, the last dregs of Belgium’s golden generation must now take on the unmovable object of this tournament. Spain are yet to concede a goal after five matches and have not come this far at the World Cup since they won the damn thing in 2010.
While the World Cup pedigree of Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku is unquestionable – they beat Brazil in their last quarter-final – we are still yet to see Lamine Yamal’s real arrival on this stage. The Barcelona winger, who turns 19 on Monday, has registered a single goal and no assists at these finals and is perhaps the only world superstar yet to make his mark. Could today be his day?
The winner of this one will play France (good luck) in the semis next Tuesday in Dallas.
Kick-off in Los Angeles is midday local time, 8pm BST and 5am AEST. Feel free to get in touch with me via email. Let’s go.
