What did the foreign press make of Belgium’s narrow World Cup defeat by Spain?

Foreign newspapers praised Belgium’s disciplined resistance but identified substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens’ late error as the decisive moment after Spain

Place

Spain

European champion that defeated Belgium 2-1 and advanced from the quarter-final.

Why it matters

European champion that defeated Belgium 2-1 and advanced from the quarter-final.

About

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Europe and the fourth-most populous European Union (EU) member state.

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Organisation

Red Devils

Belgium’s men’s national football team.

Why it matters

Belgium’s men’s national football team.

About

Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Manchester United are among the most successful football clubs in England, as well as one of the most successful football clubs in the world.

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The result was painful precisely because Belgium had made the contest far closer than many foreign previews expected. Fabián Ruiz put Spain ahead after half an hour, but Charles De Ketelaere equalised in the 41st minute from Timothy Castagne’s cross. According to Opta, that goal ended Spain’s run of 649 minutes without conceding at a World Cup. Belgium had become the first side to score against Luis de la Fuente’s team during the 2026 tournament.

The balance changed when first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois

Person

Thibaut Courtois

Belgium goalkeeper replaced through injury in the 71st minute.

Why it matters

Belgium goalkeeper replaced through injury in the 71st minute.

About

Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Belgium national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation and one of the greatest Belgian footballers of all time.

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That sequence dominated the international coverage. France’s L’Équipe framed Courtois’ injury as the turning point and described Belgium’s performance as a brave effort against the pre-match favourite, according to the press survey published by VoetbalPrimeur.be. The French newspaper was nevertheless severe about the goalkeeping mistake, judging that it settled a match Belgium had kept competitive far longer than expected.

Germany’s Bild placed greater emphasis on Spain’s dramatic qualification but also presented the outcome as especially bitter for Belgium. Its account linked the late goal to two disruptions: Courtois’ enforced departure and captain Youri Tielemans’ injury during the warm-up, which required Hans Vanaken to enter the starting team at short notice. This frame treated the defeat less as evidence of a large sporting gulf than as the cumulative cost of injuries at the worst possible time.

The Spanish sports daily Marca offered the most striking reassessment. As summarised by VoetbalPrimeur.be, it argued that an evening expected to resemble a comfortable Spanish passage had instead become a trap. Marca credited Belgium with restricting Spain’s attacking routes and highlighted Jérémy Doku’s direct running. Its central story was still Merino’s latest intervention as a decisive substitute, but its praise for Belgium undercut any suggestion that Spain had simply swept aside an overmatched opponent.

The Dutch public broadcaster NOS used a harsher individual frame, putting Lammens’ mistake at the centre of its headline. Yet it also stressed the goalkeeper’s difficult circumstances: he was introduced cold, deep into a World Cup quarter-final, after replacing one of the most experienced goalkeepers in international football. The distinction matters. The error was decisive, but reducing the whole match to one player’s intervention obscures the pressure Spain had accumulated and the disruption caused by Courtois’ injury.

The numbers support both readings. Opta recorded 17 Spanish shots and 2.08 expected goals, against five attempts and 0.37 expected goals for Belgium. Spain therefore created substantially more overall. Belgium, however, defended compactly, threatened on transitions and remained level until the closing minutes. Garcia said after the match that his side had competed on equal terms and had no reason to be ashamed, while defender Brandon Mechele said Belgium had shown how it could hurt Spain. Those assessments reflect competitive pride, although the underlying chance data point to Spanish superiority rather than an even attacking contest.

The wider judgement of this Belgian generation is more complicated than one quarter-final. The Red Devils spent years near the top of the FIFA ranking and fielded leading players across Europe, yet their much-discussed golden generation never reached a major final. Its high point was third place at the 2018 World Cup; elimination by eventual champions Italy followed at Euro 2020, before the team went out in the group stage in Qatar in 2022. That history explains the foreign observation that Belgium had not fully lived up to its reputation over the past decade.

But the label can also conceal change. Garcia’s 2026 side combined remaining senior figures such as Courtois and Romelu Lukaku with players including De Ketelaere, Doku and Lammens. Reaching the quarter-finals, scoring the first goal Spain conceded at the tournament and staying in the match until the 88th minute provided evidence of renewal, even if it did not erase the familiar problem: Belgium again left a major tournament without defeating an elite European opponent in the decisive rounds.

There was a historical echo. Belgium’s last World Cup knockout victory over a fellow European nation before this tournament’s later stages had long been associated with the 1986 campaign, when the Red Devils eliminated Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals and reached their first semi-final. Opta noted that Belgium has now lost its last four World Cup knockout ties against UEFA opposition since that victory. Spain, by contrast, reached the semi-finals for the first time since winning the 2010 tournament and subsequently went on to win the 2026 title.

This remains primarily a football story, not a matter of federal or regional political competence. The Royal Belgian Football Association

The next questions concern continuity. The Belgian association and Garcia must assess Courtois’ fitness, the role of the remaining veterans and whether the younger core can turn a respectable transition into a serious challenge at Euro 2028. Lammens’ response at club and international level will also be watched closely. One mistake ended this campaign, but the more consequential judgement will be whether Belgium’s quarter-final run marked a final afterglow of the old generation or the beginning of a more sustainable one.