Spain face Belgium in the quarterfinals of the World Cup at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Friday , as the European champions look to continue an excellent run of form that they've gone through at this tournament so far.
It was a tournament that began slowly for Spain, with a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde. Since then, Luis de la Fuente's side have won four games in four, scoring nine and conceding none. The Spanish machine is running along pretty smoothly, and is now just two steps away from another World Cup final. They will also take serious confidence from a tough Round of 16 clash against their neighbours Portugal, which they won 1-0, thanks to Mikel Merino's injury-time winner, which sent Cristiano Ronaldo out of the World Cup for one last time.
Belgium were perhaps a bit lucky to make it through to the round of 32, but they produced their most complete performance of the tournament in the last round, as they sent the hosts USA packing, with an excellent performance which led to a 4-1 win in Seattle. However, they did suffer a bit of a blow in that game, as Amadou Onana's knee injury now means that he will miss the rest of the tournament (and a number of months beyond).
Here's everything you need to know about Friday's game.
How to watch:
The match will be available on BBC One in the UK, Fox Sports in the U.S., Zee5 in India and SBS in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
U.S. ET: 3 p.m. Friday, July 10
UK BST: 8 p.m. Friday, July 10
India IST: 12:30 a.m. Saturday, July 11
Australia AEST: 5 a.m. Saturday, July 11
Venue: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California, USA
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)
Team News
Spain - Predicted XI
Unai Simón
Pedro Porro | Pau Cubarsí | Aymeric Laporte | Marc Cucurella
Pedri | Rodri
Lamine Yamal | Dani Olmo | Álex Baena
Mikel Oyarzabal
Belgium - Predicted XI
Thibaut Courtois
Timothy Castagne | Nathan Ngoy | Brandon Mechele | Maxim de Cuyper
Hans Vanaken | Nicolas Raskin
Dodi Lukébakio | Youri Tielemans | Leandro Trossard
Charles de Ketelaere
Talking Points
Spain's off-the-charts defence sets the base
In five games at this World Cup so far, Spain are yet to concede a single goal. They've had some games where their attackers have flattered to deceive, but none where their defenders haven't delivered. Like Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said after Spain's 3-0 round-of-32 win over his side, this Spanish team barely makes an unforced error.
They keep the ball so well, a la the Spanish teams of the golden years between 2008 and 2012, and that is their most important weapon towards keeping the number of clean sheets that they do. However, beyond that, in Pau Cubarsi, Pedro Porro, Aymeric Laporte, and Marc Cucurella, Spain have built a back four that is adept at defending moments in transition. It exhibits an understanding from de la Fuente that his team would control the ball, and that they would need to defend transitions well to continue to have a chance of progressing at this World Cup.
Whether or not Lamine Yamal and co. can click up top, Spain will continue to have a chance in every game they play as long as this defensive unit keeps playing the way they have done in this tournament so far.
Trossard the key for Belgium
In a Belgian attack that has been extremely unsettled throughout the tournament, Leandro Trossard has stepped up and become the leader of that attack, as the tournament has gone on. After a slow start to the tournament, Trossard has been excellent since that last group game against New Zealand, which Belgium won to win their group, and eventually, that has proved to be important as well, as it helped them avoid Argentina in the round of 16.
Trossard has scored twice and assisted twice in Belgium's last three games. Against Senegal, he set up Youri Tielemans' late equaliser, as Belgium came back from 2-0 down to eventually win that game 3-2. In the round of 16 game against the USA, he assisted Charles de Ketelaere, as Belgium took control of that game in the first half.
With Garcia now likely to stick with the side that brought Bekgium back into the game against Senegal and the one that started against the USA, Jérémy Doku and Kevin de Bruyne are likely to continue to remain on the bench, as will Romelu Lukaku, who has made a serious difference for Belgium as an impact substitute throughout this tournament. That means that right from the off, it will be Trossard who will have to lead the way up top for Belgium.