The eight-match World Cup schedule in Los Angeles concludes Friday with a high-stakes quarterfinal clash between one of the tournament favorites and a team that appears to be finding its form.
Spain, the 2010 World Cup champions, faces Belgium, a squad with a mix of golden generation veterans and rising young stars, in a noon kickoff at the Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood.
Spain, which has yet to allow a goal in five tournament matches, needed a late-game goal to escape with a 1-0 victory over neighbors Portugal in the Round of 32. Belgium advanced with a 4-1 drubbing of the United States.
The matchup features two European sides that have struggled to score, instead relying on defense to get them through rough patches. La Roja is unbeaten in 36 straight competitive matches since March 2023. Belgium is unbeaten in 18 matches across all competitions.
Eighteen-year-old Lamine Yamal is still nursing a hamstring injury for Spain, but is expected to play. Belgium will be without midfielder Amadou Onana, who injured a knee in the victory over the United States in Seattle.
The winner of Spain-Belgium advances to face France, 2-0 winners Thursday over Morocco.
The U.S. is out of the World Cup, but the controversy is not over. After FIFA lifted Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension, 35 European Union lawmakers are pushing for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to be investigated.
Revisiting the 2026 World Cup matches in Los Angeles
The match with the most riding on it will play out Friday after five group stage games and two Round of 32 contests. Here’s a look back at the 20260 World Cup matches at the Los Angeles Stadium.
June 12: United States 4 v. Paraguay 1
A flying start for the United States, which delivered a debut win with an attacking style of play, fueled a degree of cautious optimism for the hosts in front of a boisterous crowd. An own goal from Paraguay opened the scoring before striker Folarin Balogun ignited the already raucous atmosphere with two first-half goals. Paraguay scored in the 73rd minute, but Giovanni Reyna came on to deliver another U.S. strike in stoppage time.
June 15: Iran 2, New Zealand 2
World events shadowed a match featuring a country at war with one of the three North American host nations. Iran gave up an early goal, and rallied twice to draw even with New Zealand, which was powered by two goals from Eli Just.
June 18: Switzerland 4, Bosnia-Herzegovina 1
In a matchup of two knockout-round qualifiers, Switzerland showed early signs of deep-run potential with four goals in the second half, highlighted by a brace from Johan Manzambi. The 20-year-old SC Freiburg midfielder scored just three minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Most fans think Lamine is his first name and Yamal is his last name. But the Spain star’s name tells a heartfelt story of two strangers whose kindness helped his family before he was born.
June 21: Belgium 0, Iran 0
Alireza Beiranvand made seven saves against Belgium, which was down to 10 men after receiving a straight red card in the 66th minute. The match continued a troubling trend for Belgium, which failed to score on 53 consecutive shots in the World Cup dating back to the 2022 tournament.
June 25: Türkiye 3, United States 2
In a game that had little at stake in the tournament for both teams, Türkiye topped the hosts on the final kick of the match for its only World Cup victory. Having already qualified for the Round of 32, the United States dramatically changed its lineup from the previous two matches. Despite the win, Türkiye was headed home no matter the result.
June 28: Canada 1, South Africa 0
LAFC’s Stephen Eustáquio struck early in stoppage time to see Canada through for their first knockout stage World Cup victory. A long pass into the box bounced in the path of Eustáquio, who calmly delivered the game-winner, sending the Canada-heavy crowd into a frenzy.
July 2: Spain 3, Austria 0
Spain jump-started its scoring behind two goals from Mike Oyarzabal in an encouraging win for the European champions. The Real Sociedad forward opened the scoring in the 36th minute before adding a second in the 89th.
The quarterfinals began Thursday, and the semifinals will be July 14 and July 15, leading up to the championship match at MetLife Stadium on July 19.
Other U.S. host cities were Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle and the Bay Area.
Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey were Mexico’s host cities. Toronto and Vancouver hosted matches in Canada.