Lamine Yamal Has Spain Two Wins from World Cup Glory After Quarterfinal Result

Spain kept their perfect defensive record intact at the 2026 World Cup on Friday, and they needed every bit of it to get past a stubborn Belgium side at Los Angeles Stadium. The final score? 2-0. But the scoreboard doesn’t tell you how tense this one actually got.

Lamine Yamal did it again. The kid everyone’s been talking about since the tournament started found the back of the net in the second half, and Mikel Oyarzabal added a late insurance goal to send Spain into a semifinal matchup with France. That game is going to be massive.

The lineup shakeups that mattered

Luis De La Fuente made exactly one change to his starting XI from the Round of 16 win over Portugal. Fabian Ruiz got the nod over Pedri in midfield. That was it. The rest of the spine stayed intact: Unai Simon in goal, that back four of Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte and Cucurella, and Rodri pulling the strings in the middle. Yamal and Olmo worked the wings with Baena and Oyarzabal up top.

Belgium had bigger problems. Amadou Onana is done for the tournament after getting hurt in the last match, so Youri Tielemans stepped back in behind Kevin De Bruyne. Jeremy Doku also got the start, replacing Dodi Lukebakio on the wing. Rudi Garcia’s side went with Courtois in goal, a backline of Castagne, Ngoy, Mechele and De Cuyper, with Raskin and Onana holding midfield and De Ketelaere leading the line.

Both teams came in unbeaten. Only one leaves that way.

Spain’s defense is becoming the story

Here’s the wild part: Spain hasn’t conceded a single goal all tournament. Not one. Four matches, four clean sheets. That’s not just good, that’s historically unusual for a team that’s usually known for possession and pretty passing rather than defensive grit.

Belgium had their chances. De Bruyne found space a few times in the first half and Tielemans tested Simon from distance. But Spain’s backline held firm, and when Belgium pushed forward looking for an equalizer after Yamal’s goal, they left themselves open for Oyarzabal to seal it on the counter.

Yamal now has three goals in this World Cup. He’s 18 years old. Let that sink in.

France is up next for Spain, and that’s going to be a completely different kind of test. The French have firepower all over the field. But Spain has something no other team in this tournament has right now: a defense nobody has cracked. Something’s got to give in the semifinal.