The third day of round of 16 matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup saw Spain and Belgium join Morocco, France, Norway and England in the quarterfinals. Here's how the round of 16 knockout ties unfolded today.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal lost to Spain 0-1.
Belgium defeated the United States 4-1.
It will be Spain vs Belgium in the quarterfinals
Here's how the games played out:
USA 1 - 4 Belgium
(Tillman 31' - De Ketelaere 9' 33', Vanaken 57', Lukaku 90+3')
The co-hosts saw their World Cup dreams go up in smoke, as Belgium cruised to a 4-1 win over them in the round of 16, setting up a quarterfinal against Spain.
With USA striker Folarin Balogun controversially starting this game, it was his Belgian counterpart Charles De Ketelaere who opened the scoring early in the ninth minute. A poor clearance from Chris Richards saw Nicolas Raskin pounce on it in the box, before curling a low cross in front of goal that De Ketelaere only had to tap in from close range. Malik Tillman then brought the co-hosts back into the game in the 31st minute with a deflected free kick from range, to spark scenes of wild celebration.
56 seconds later, Belgium silenced the crowd once more, as De Ketelaere rose high at the far post to head home Leandro Trossard's cross from the left wing as Rudi Garcia's side led 2-1 going into the break.
The co-hosts saw their hopes dwindle in the 57th minute as Belgium pounced on an error from USA keeper Matt Freese, who dallied on the ball outside the box and allowed De Ketelaere to nick the ball off him and square it to Hans Vanaken. The Belgian midfielder only had Tim Ream to beat from distance but stroked it towards him, only for the American defender to miscue his clearance and watch as the ball trickled past him into an empty net, making it 3-1. Romelu Lukaku put the icing on the cake in the 93rd minute, taking advantage of an error from Richards in the box, before slotting into the opposite bottom corner with his weaker right foot to seal Belgium's victory.
Portugal 0 - 1 Spain
(Merino 90+1')
Cristiano Ronaldo's dream of winning a World Cup came to a limp end as Portugal were defeated by neighbours Spain by a 1-0 scoreline, with substitute Mikel Merino scoring a late winner in the 91st minute.
Spain had the early running of the game, with Mikel Oyarzabal coming close early, but shot wide. Diogo Costa needed to be in fine form in the Portuguese net, keeping out Lamine Yamal and Álex Baena as the half progressed. Portugal came close when Nuno Mendes saw his shot deflected onto the crossbar, but it remained goalless at the break.
With Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes cutting peripheral figures in the second half with speculative efforts, the game seemed destined for extra time, only for substitute Merino to make the difference. Having collected the ball from Rodri in midfield, Ferran Torres turned and spied Merino making in a run behind the Portuguese defence on the left side and slid him through with a measured pass. The Arsenal midfielder then produced a calm finish, slotting it past Costa with a low drive into the bottom corner to give Spain the victory.