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Thibaut Courtois' injury proved to be costly for Belgium in its 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinal match against Spain on Friday at Los Angeles Stadium.
Courtois, Belgium's all-time leader in clean sheets, saves and appearances as a goalkeeper, tearfully exited the match in the 71st minute with an apparent injury and Senne Lammens subbed on. Prior to coming off, Courtois recorded four saves and conceded one goal.
Lammens is coming off a career season with Manchester United, recording eight clean sheets in 32 appearances and winning the Premier League Transfer of the Season.
"He's literally rocked our world," United legend and FOX Sports analyst Peter Schmeicel said postgame. "He's done absolutely fantastic."
But with Belgium needing Lammens to fill Courtois' massive shoes, the 24-year-old goalkeeper made a crucial mistake, allowing a late goal from Mikel Merino in the 88th minute that came off a long-distance shot from Pau Cubarsí that was not properly dealt with by Lammens
"He’s so unlucky today," Schmeicel said. "I feel so sorry for him because, of course, that shot from Cubarsí, he has to hold on to. He must not give that to Mikel Merino, and had he done that, we probably would have waited for another 30 minutes of this game."
Spain’s Mikel Merino nets goal to retake lead vs Belgium | 2026 FIFA World Cup™
But Schmeichel also gave credit to Spain for being aggressive and putting pressure on Belgium's goalkeepers before Merino broke through win the match-winner.
"The way that they do the five seconds of fury, the way that they press," Schmeicel said. "They actually very much kick the ball out a lot, and I think that maybe he just tweaked something in kicking that ball, or kicking the ball so much."
Spain moves on to set up a mouthwatering semifinal tie against France at Dallas Stadium on Tuesday, July 14. It is a rematch of the semifinals of the last European Championship, which finished 2-1 in favor of Spain before it went on to win Euro 2024.
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