World Cup 2026: Spain and the semi-finals, a beautiful love story

14.07.26 FT World Cup

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Spain has booked its place in the semi-finals of the World Cup after defeating Belgium 2-1 on Friday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

Indeed, La Roja is set to play, next Tuesday, its 13th semi-final in an official tournament—and only its second at the World Cup—following their victory over Germany in the 2010 semi-final in Durban (0-1).

The Spanish are true specialists at this stage, having been knocked out only twice in ten attempts. The only defeats came against the United States in the 2009 Confederations Cup and against Italy at EURO 2021.

Spain's semi-finals in major competitions

2 September 1920 – Antwerp (Belgium) – 1920 Summer Olympics: Spain vs Italy (2-0)

21 June 1964 – Madrid (Spain) – Euro 1964: Spain vs Hungary (2-1 a.e.t.)

24 June 2009 – Bloemfontein (South Africa) – 2009 Confederations Cup: Spain vs United States (0-2)

7 July 2010 – Durban (South Africa) – 2010 World Cup: Germany vs Spain (0-1)

27 June 2012 – Donetsk (Ukraine) – Euro 2012: Portugal vs Spain (0-0 a.e.t., 2-4 pens)

27 June 2013 – Fortaleza (Brazil) – 2013 Confederations Cup: Spain vs Italy (0-0 a.e.t., 7-6 pens)

6 July 2021 – London (England) – Euro 2020: Italy vs Spain (1-1 a.e.t., 4-2 pens)

6 October 2021 – Milan (Italy) – 2020-2021 Nations League: Italy vs Spain (1-2)

15 June 2023 – Enschede (Netherlands) – 2022-2023 Nations League: Spain vs Italy (2-1)

9 July 2024 – Munich (Germany) – Euro 2024: Spain vs France (2-1)

5 June 2025 – Stuttgart (Germany) – 2024-2025 Nations League: Spain vs France (5-4).

La Roja's journey at the World Cup

Spain remains unbeaten at the 2026 World Cup. In six matches, they have claimed five victories and one draw, scoring eleven goals and conceding just once.

For their tournament opener, the Iberians were held to a goalless draw by Cape Verde (0-0) in a match marked by the spectacular saves of Vozinha, the Blue Sharks' last line of defense.

They quickly bounced back, defeating Saudi Arabia (4-0) and Uruguay (1-0) in succession.

In the round of 32, Spain dominated Austria (3-0), before edging out Portugal in the round of 16 by the narrowest of margins.

Most recently, they punched their ticket to the semi-finals at the expense of Belgium, winning 2-1.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

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