Spain's Mikel Merino Becomes First Player In FIFA World Cup History To...

Spain star Mikel Merino scored the second goal for La Roja in their 2-1 win over Belgium in the second quarterfinal match of FIFA World Cup 2026 on Friday (July 10). In the fixture played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, he came off the bench in the 86th minute and scored in the 88th minute to put his side 2-1 up. The goal by Merino proved to be decisive as it helped the 2010 champions defeat Belgium and book their place in the semifinals of the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

In Spain’s Round of 16 match as well, Merino came off the bench against Portugal and scored the only goal of the match in the 90+1st minute.

By scoring two winners for Spain in back-to-back knockout matches of FIFA World Cup 2026, Merino has entered his name in the history books.

The 30-year-old is the first player in the world to score the winning goal in two different knockout-stage matches of the FIFA World Cup as a substitute.