Mikel Merino stars again as Spain edges Belgium 2-1 in the World Cup quarterfinals

Mikel Meri­no scored in the 88th minute on a re­bound yield­ed by back­up Bel­gium goal­keep­er Senne Lam­mens, and Spain ad­vanced to the World Cup semi­fi­nals with a 2-1 vic­to­ry on Fri­day.

Meri­no was the late hero for the sec­ond straight match for Spain, which will face tour­na­ment fa­vorite France in the semi­fi­nals on Tues­day in the Dal­las area.

Meri­no came on in the 86th minute and scored on his sec­ond touch of the match, charg­ing in­to the box and pounc­ing af­ter Lam­mens spilled a re­bound of Pau Cubarsí’s long shot.