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Spain and Belgium are bidding to reach just their third World Cup semi-final when they face off at the SoFi Stadium on Friday night.
Spain reached the semi-finals in 1950 and 2010, going on to win what remains their only World Cup in the latter.
Belgium have never lifted the trophy, but reached the semi-finals in 1986 and 2018.
Read our prediction, preview and betting tips for the game below, and make sure to check out our today's betting tips page for more of our expert predictions, as well as our best football world cup betting offers.
Spain vs. Belgium key stats
- Spain are yet to concede at the World Cup.
- In contrast, Belgium have kept just one clean sheet at the World Cup.
- Spain have won all five previous H2Hs this century.
Spain vs. Belgium preview: La Roja to race into semis?
| Spain | vs | Belgium |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | FIFA Ranking | 9 |
| Rodri (67) | Most Caps | Axel Witsel (139) |
| Mikel Oyarzabal (29) | Most Goals | Romelu Lukaku (93) |
| 822 | Total Caps | 1165 |
| 125 | Total Goals | 226 |
| 0 | Uncapped Players | 1 |
Spain's World Cup has gone from strength to strength after being held to a 0-0 draw by Cape Verde in their opening game.
Since then, they have won five straight matches without conceding, and seem to be peaking at the right time after beating Portugal 1-0 in the round of 16.
Luis de la Fuente is seemingly getting a tune not just from his starting XI, but his whole squad as Mikel Merino came off the bench to score the winner.
La Roja have no fresh injury concerns and so could start with the same XI that beat Portugal, which they will feel is strong enough to beat Belgium.
With the controversy surrounding the game after Folarin Balogun's red card was suspended, Belgium did well to dispatch of co-hosts USA 4-1 in the last round.
The Red Devils also turned to their bench for support with Romelu Lukaku becoming the first player to score in four World Cup matches as a substitute.
As such, Rudi Garcia could also choose to stick to a similar XI, although Amadou Onana has suffered a serious injury and has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament and beyond.
Despite winning their last three matches after picking up draws in their first two World Cup games, Belgium will be underdogs here against a Spain side ranked seven places above them in the FIFA rankings.
Spain vs. Belgium form guide & betting tips
| Spain | vs | Belgium |
|---|---|---|
DWWWW |
Form | DDWWW |
| 9 | Goals For | 13 |
| 0 | Goals Against | 5 |
WWW |
World Cup 2026 | WWW |
Whispers predicts: Spain 2-0 Belgium
Spain are 4/6 (1.67) favourites to win and 3/10 (1.30) favourites to qualify, but while we agree with the bookies, we would like to pick some more ambitious odds.
Belgium have scored 13 goals at the World Cup, four more than Spain, but La Roja's defence is yet to be breached and so BTTS – No at 11/10 (2.10) looks worth a punt.
Under 2.5 goals at 11/10 (2.10) also offers the same odds, and having come through in three of Spain's five World Cup games, we are happy to back it.
Diving deeper into La Roja's most recent victories, they have led at HT in 11 of their last 12 wins in regulation time.
Thus, HT/FT – Spain/Spain at 7/2 (4.50) is our final and most ambitious pick, while our 2-0 scoreline prediction can be backed at 17/2 (9.50).
> BTTS – No at 11/10 (2.10) | Likelihood: Possible
> Under 2.5 goals at 11/10 (2.10) | Likelihood: Possible
> HT/FT – Spain/Spain at 7/2 (4.50) | Likelihood: Outsider