​INGLEWOOD, CA — All Thibaut Courtois could do was watch Spain celebrate from his seat on the bench. The Belgian goalkeeper had hardly allowed a single breakthrough to slip past him, having nearly carried his side through the World Cup quarterfinal at SoFi Stadium with four crucial saves. Yet at the start of the second half, a sensation in his left thigh emerged. After a flurry of stops, Courtois felt capable of continuing, but with another long kick, the familiar twinge returned. In the 71st minute, Belgium manager Rudi Garcia decided to substitute the Real Madrid goalkeeper for Senne Lammens.
“Obviously, I wanted to continue, but the coach wanted someone 100%,” Courtois said. “So OK, that’s his decision. I wanted to try to play maybe 5-10 more minutes to see, because in goal I was feeling good. I was making the saves, and I was not disturbed to make those saves. And I was only disturbed to kick long. So that’s the decision of the coach, and that’s not a problem.”
The stalemate persisted until the 88th minute, when Lammens failed to secure a long-range effort from Pau Cubarsí. The ball slipped from his grasp as he fell, ricocheting to Mikel Merino, who slammed the winner past Belgium for La Roja, marking a second straight game in which Spain had defeated Belgium by the same late margin. Spain went on to win 2-1, eliminating Belgium. Lammens, meanwhile, earned an unfortunate distinction as the first substitute goalkeeper to commit a mistake leading to a goal in a World Cup match since 1974.
After the final whistle, Courtois offered a long hug to his backup in a gesture of consolation. “Much more I cannot do at the moment,” he said. “I know for goalkeepers, it is a (bad) feeling, and he’s a great goalkeeper. And if we only get stronger from this, it’s not a problem.” Despite the loss, Garcia stood by his bold decision.
“That’s part of elite-level sport. It’s what I was saying earlier: you have to be focused and capable of performing in these big matches,” he said, translating for FIFA. “Since the start of the World Cup, I’ve made a point of not playing anyone who was carrying an injury; I needed players who were fully fit.”
Courtois, who has been contending with a string of muscle injuries over the past 18 months, was no exception to the strain. Garcia expressed satisfaction not only with Courtois’s reflexes and shot-stopping but also with his distribution over long distances to Romelu Lukaku and Charles De Ketelaere, which helped spark chances for the Red Devils. “He is a great goalkeeper,” Garcia asserted. “One of the best in the world. He proved that again tonight. So, for him to be at less than 100% during the match was a real blow.”
The episode underscored a broader truth echoed by Garcia: even at the sport’s highest level, staying healthy remains a fundamental prerequisite for success. As elite teams contend with grueling schedules and relentless demands, the margin between victory and defeat often narrows to a matter of available fit players who can perform at their peak when it matters most. The resilience and management of injuries are as crucial as the moments of brilliance that decide a game, and Garcia’s choices in this encounter reflected a calculated approach to safeguarding long-term competitiveness.
In the end, the result stood as a reminder that football, at its zenith, is a test of both skill and stamina. Courtois’s early exits and Lammens’s costly miscue did not erase the skill and poise that had carried Belgium this far, but they did illustrate how quickly fortunes can pivot when injuries intrude. For Spain, the victory reinforced the durability of their late-stage performance, while Belgium’s campaign concluded with a mix of admiration for the talent on display and the sobering reality of how injuries can alter the course of a match. As teams look ahead, the conversations will center on managing fitness, optimizing squad depth, and ensuring that, when given the chance, every player is ready to deliver at the highest level. Garcia’s assessment—emphasizing focus, readiness, and fitness—will likely echo in discussions about how best to navigate the demanding landscape of elite international football.