{"id":124377,"date":"2026-07-11T16:23:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T11:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/?p=124377"},"modified":"2026-07-11T16:23:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T11:23:39","slug":"spain-edge-belgium-2-1-with-late-winner-to-reach-fifa-world-cup-semi-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/spain-edge-belgium-2-1-with-late-winner-to-reach-fifa-world-cup-semi-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain Edge Belgium 2-1 with Late Winner to Reach FIFA World Cup Semi-Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Inglewood, California: <\/strong>Former world champions Spain secured a dramatic <strong data-start=\"163\" data-end=\"178\">2-1 victory<\/strong> over Belgium to book their place in the <strong data-start=\"219\" data-end=\"249\">FIFA World Cup semi-finals<\/strong>, thanks to a stunning late goal by Mikel Merino.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"300\" data-end=\"418\">The thrilling encounter, played at <strong data-start=\"335\" data-end=\"358\">Los Angeles Stadium<\/strong>, kept fans on the edge of their seats from start to finish.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"420\" data-end=\"683\">Spain took the lead in the <strong data-start=\"447\" data-end=\"462\">30th minute<\/strong> when <strong data-start=\"468\" data-end=\"483\">Fabi\u00e1n Ruiz<\/strong> found the back of the net. However, Belgium responded <strong data-start=\"538\" data-end=\"558\">11 minutes later<\/strong>, with <strong data-start=\"565\" data-end=\"576\">Charles<\/strong> scoring a superb header to level the match at <strong data-start=\"623\" data-end=\"630\">1-1<\/strong>, a scoreline that remained unchanged until halftime.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"685\" data-end=\"816\">Both teams created several scoring opportunities in the second half, but neither could break the deadlock until the closing stages.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"818\" data-end=\"995\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">In the <strong data-start=\"825\" data-end=\"840\">88th minute<\/strong>, <strong data-start=\"842\" data-end=\"858\">Mikel Merino<\/strong> scored a magnificent winner, sealing Spain&#8217;s <strong data-start=\"904\" data-end=\"919\">2-1 triumph<\/strong> and sending the former world champions into the FIFA World Cup semi-finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inglewood, California: Former world champions Spain secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over Belgium to book their place in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals, thanks to a stunning late goal by Mikel Merino. The thrilling encounter, played at Los Angeles Stadium, kept fans on the edge [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-sports-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Spain Edge Belgium 2-1 with Late Winner to Reach FIFA World Cup Semi-Finals - Pakistan News International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/spain-edge-belgium-2-1-with-late-winner-to-reach-fifa-world-cup-semi-finals\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Spain Edge Belgium 2-1 with Late Winner to Reach FIFA World Cup Semi-Finals - Pakistan News International\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Inglewood, California: Former world champions Spain secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over Belgium to book their place in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals, thanks to a stunning late goal by Mikel Merino. The thrilling encounter, played at Los Angeles Stadium, kept fans on the edge [...]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/football-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Desk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/spain-edge-belgium-2-1-with-late-winner-to-reach-fifa-world-cup-semi-finals\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/spain-edge-belgium-2-1-with-late-winner-to-reach-fifa-world-cup-semi-finals\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Desk\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2b326eefbddc9c3b180116b6f37cce9f\"},\"headline\":\"Spain Edge Belgium 2-1 with Late Winner to Reach FIFA World Cup Semi-Finals\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T11:23:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/spain-edge-belgium-2-1-with-late-winner-to-reach-fifa-world-cup-semi-finals\/\"},\"wordCount\":154,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/spain-edge-belgium-2-1-with-late-winner-to-reach-fifa-world-cup-semi-finals\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/football-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/spain-edge-belgium-2-1-with-late-winner-to-reach-fifa-world-cup-semi-finals\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/spain-edge-belgium-2-1-with-late-winner-to-reach-fifa-world-cup-semi-finals\/\",\"name\":\"Spain Edge Belgium 2-1 with Late Winner to Reach FIFA World Cup Semi-Finals - 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