Spain are the overwhelming favourites to see off Belgium and advance to the World Cup semi-finals, but to do that they will have to get past a familiar face: Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Courtois has spent the last eight years in Madrid after joining from Chelsea in 2018, at which point he was already established as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
He has enhanced that reputation at the Santiago Bernabeu, helping Madrid win three La Liga titles and two Champions League crowns.
The 6ft 7in stopper will be the last line of the Belgium defence in Los Angeles on Friday night and his opposite number Unai Simon was full of praise for the 34-year-old.
Simon told AS: “His physique makes him occupy a lot of goal. He gets big and it’s hard to score past him. Sometimes it seems that those tall goalkeepers can have a weak point in coordination or speed but Courtois has shown that he has great skill with the ball, that his movements are fast in the goal and that he handles all parts of the area well. He is a very complete goalkeeper with physical qualities that few goalkeepers have.”
Spain midfielder Dani Olmo agreed, adding: “Belgium have one of the best goalkeepers in the world, if not the best. They have several players who can make a difference and we have to be careful.”
Courtois describes Spain as a “second home” for him now but will have no divided loyalties on Friday night when the teams clash at SoFi Stadium.
He said: “I’ve been living in Spain for 11 years, that’s a long time. In the end I will always be Belgian, even though Spain is a second home for me and I will probably continue to live there after my career. On Friday, only Belgium counts.”
Belgium’s underdog status rekindles memories of the 2018 World Cup in Russia when the Red Devils’ ‘Golden Generation’ overcame Brazil 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
“Individually, we may have had more quality back then, but now we have a stronger collective,” said Courtois. “We will fight. We already showed that at the end of the match against Senegal. We will continue to believe until the end and that is also a strength at a World Cup.
“It’s fun when you play well, but the most important thing is to win games. Everyone knows it’s possible. We have a good team. We have qualities that can hurt Spain.
“In football, everything is possible. In every tournament there are surprises: Champions League, Europa League, European Championships and World Cups, even in the regular leagues. I think we can take care of them, it would be a big result to eliminate Spain. There is a lot of confidence in our team.”
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Team news for Spain v Belgium
Luis de la Fuente has no new injuries to contend with and is likely to name the same XI that beat Portugal. That means matchwinner Mikel Merino will again be among the substitutes.
Belgium boss Rudi Garcia will have to make one change with Amadou Onana sustaining an ACL tear during the 4-1 win over the United States. Onana’s injury seemingly paved the way for Kevin De Bruyne to come off the bench but Garcia opted for the more physical Hans Vanaken.
Jeremy Doku was also dropped for the USA game and the Manchester City star is unlikely to force his way back into the XI.
Predicted line-ups for Spain v Belgium
Spain: Simon; Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Baena; Oyarzabal
Belgium: Courtois; Castagne, Mechele, Ngoy, De Cuyper; Raskin, Tielemans, Vanaken; Trossard, Lukebakio, De Ketelaere
Where to watch Spain v Belgium: TV and online streams
ick-off on Friday is at 20:00 BST (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). In the UK, live TV coverage is on BBC One.
Streaming on a vast range of devices is available through the BBC iPlayer app and BBC Sport website.
Stats for Spain v Belgium
- These teams last men when David Silva goals gave Spain a 2-0 friendly victory over Belgium in Brussels in September 2016
- Spain are unbeaten in the last 11 meetings since a 2-1 defeat at EURO 1980 (W9 D2) and have won the five most recent by an aggregate of 13-1
- This will be the third World Cup edition of this fixture and the second at the quarter-final stage. Belgium progressed from the last eight on penalties in 1986 after a 1-1 draw, with Spain winning 2-1 in the 1990 group stage
- La Roja kept a World Cup-record sixth consecutive clean sheet during that win against Portugal
- Under Luis de la Fuente, Spain have progressed from all six of their major-tournament knockout games
- Only two managers have ever progressed from their first seven such ties with European nations: Vittorio Pozzo (first 8 with Italy, 1934-1938) and Vicente del Bosque (first 7 with Spain, 2010-2012)
- This is Spain’s sixth World Cup quarter-final; they were eliminated from their first four, between 1934 and 2002, but beat Paraguay 1-0 in the 2010 quarter-finals, winning that tournament
- With an assist against the USA, Leandro Trossard (2 goals, 2 assists) became the third Belgian on record (since 1966) to score multiple goals and provide multiple assists at a single World Cup (Eden Hazard in 2018, Jan Ceulemans in 1986)
- At these finals, Romelu Lukaku became the second Belgian (after Marc Wilmots in 2002) to score in three consecutive World Cup fixtures
- All three of Lukaku’s goals at this tournament have come as a substitute, with only Cameroon’s Roger Milla (4, in 1990) ever netting more from the bench at a single World Cup edition
Prediction for Spain v Belgium
Belgium have done remarkably well to reach this stage but we think this is where their journey ends.
Spain have too much quality and should cruise through with few alarms.
Prediction: Spain 3-0 Belgium
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
