Spain’s late winning goal breaks Belgian hearts to seal World Cup semifinal spot

By Ben Church, Aleks Klosok

And that’s it! What a thrilling end to this match as Spain grabs a late winner to beat Belgium, 2-1.

It’s brutal for the Belgians, who hung in right until the very end. But one mistake from a substitute keeper, and the Red Devils are out of the World Cup.

Before a ball was even kicked at this tournament, many people predicted this semifinal matchup when filling in their bracket.

It’s going to be world No. 1 France versus world No. 2 Spain, and the stage will be the AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Tuesday.

Some think this match is the unofficial final, because whoever wins will be the favorite to lift the title on July 19.

Spain will have to play better if it’s going to trouble France, though.

Belgium has probably gone further than most neutrals would’ve predicted but the nature of this defeat will hurt Rudi Garcia’s side.

On the balance of play Spain deserved the win but Belgium showed incredible resilience and bravery in adversity to push Spain to the very end.

It was one thing losing captain Youri Tielemans right before kickoff but you wonder how this game could’ve panned out had goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois not left the field through injury at such a pivotal moment in the match.

Their exit could also mark the last World Cup outing for several of the team’s “Golden Generation” of stars including Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.

Attention too will now switch to the future of Garcia, whose contract is up at the end of this tournament.

You sense the winds of change will be abound in the coming weeks and months.

The-CNN-Wire
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