LOS ANGELES: Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said on Friday that the World Cup semi-final with France would be “a final before the final”.

He said his side, who beat Belgium 2-1 in Friday’s quarter-final thanks to an 88th minute Mikel Merino winner in Los Angeles, were “capable of beating any team”, including tournament favourites France and red-hot forward Kylian Mbappe.

“It’s not an exaggeration to describe this match as a final before the final,” De la Fuente said at the post-match press conference. “We’re one of the teams capable of reaching the final,” he said. “From now on, we are fully focused on France.

“We’re aware of their immense potential, but we also know that we’re the only team to have beaten them in two semi-finals.”

Spain defeated the French in the Euro 2024 semi-finals on their way to becoming European champions and also in the 2005 Nations League semi-finals.

“The match will be more open than ever,” the coach said. “We will have to raise our level of play, and we’re going to give everything.

“The French are in great form, and we have different playing styles,” De la Fuente added. “We have the greatest respect for our opponents, but we feel capable of beating any team.

Merino’s winner came as a result of Belgium goalkeeper Senne Lammens’ error.

After the teams went in level at 1-1 following the first half, Spain eventually prevailed when back-up keeper Lammens, who came on in the second period for the injured Thibaut Courtois, spilled Pau Cubarsi’s low strike.

The ball bounced in front of Lammens, giving Merino just enough time to fire home as the sold-out crowd largely backing Spain erupted on a sweltering day at Los Angeles Stadium.

Courtois rallied behind Lammens on Friday after exiting the game in the 71st minute after complaining of a muscular problem, making way for the 24-year-old understudy.

Courtois, 34, who revealed to reporters that he had wanted to stay on the field before being subbed off, offered sympathy to Lammens.

“I gave him a big hug. He’s a great goalkeeper. You only get stronger from this,” Courtois said of his team-mate. “Eventually you cannot say much more to him or give him much more advice.

“He is a strong guy, strong personality. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Courtois meanwhile revealed he had felt pain in his right leg early in the second half after a clearance and had wanted to stay on the field before being hooked by Belgium manager Rudi Garcia.

“Obviously, I wanted to continue, but the coach wanted someone 100 per cent,” Courtois said. “I wanted to try to play maybe five or 10 minutes because I was feeling good. I was making saves, and I was not disturbed to make those saves. So that’s a decision of the coach, and that’s not a problem.”

‘GOLDEN GENERATION’

Courtois said he was proud of Belgium’s fabled “Golden Generation” as their final shot at winning a major title ended in the quarter-final defeat.

As Courtois watched from the bench, the sun set on the World Cup careers of veteran team-mates such as Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois, 34, De Bruyne, 35, and Lukaku, 33, were part of the lavishly talented crop of Belgian players that rose to the pinnacle of FIFA’s rankings for multiple years at different times over the past decade.

But a gifted player pool that also included Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany and Marouane Fellaini came up short in major tournaments, with their best performance a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup.

Courtois was adamant that Belgium’s old guard could look back at their tournament record with pride, pointing out that in several cases, notably the 2018 World Cup and 2021 European Championship, they had been eliminated by the eventual winners.

“In the big tournaments, almost always we have done well,” Courtois said. “We’re very proud of of everything we did till now. Obviously we get a a lot of criticism like ‘The golden generation never won anything, and so on.’

“But we are Belgium. We’re not England. We’re not Spain. We’re not France. We are a small country of not even 12 million people that in big tournaments is showing amazing things.

“In 2018 (World Cup) I think we were playing the best football in that tournament. So there are things to be proud of.”

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2026