​At SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Belgium and Spain remained locked at 1-1 in the second half of their World Cup quarterfinal when Thibaut Courtois took a goal kick and felt a sharp pain in his leg. He attempted to soldier on, but by the 71st minute he was walking off the pitch in tears, and Belgium’s hopes in the tournament appeared effectively over. Speaking to the media after the match, Courtois answered questions about his injury and the sequence that led to his substitution.
“It’s just a shame to go off. It was a special match. I felt good. I had taken two goal kicks. On the second one, I felt a bit more pain in the quadriceps. I let them know that I couldn’t kick long balls anymore. I could have stayed in goal, but the coach told me he would sub me off if I didn’t feel 100 percent. I wanted to keep playing out there, but he then made the decision to replace me. That’s no problem; the team comes before everything,” Courtois said, translated from Spanish.
The man who replaced him, Senne Lammens, became the first Belgium goalkeeper other than Courtois to play for the national team in a World Cup since Geert De Vlieger faced Brazil in 2002. It was only Lammens’ third international appearance, so the moment could hardly have been bigger. Yet it went wrong almost immediately. In the 88th minute, Lammens spilled a shot from Pau Cubarsí and Mikel Merino pounced to score, sending Spain through to a 2-1 victory. Courtois watched from the bench as the final whistle blew.
“I gave him a big hug, that’s about all I can do in the moment,” Courtois said afterward. “He’s a great goalkeeper. He will only get stronger from this.” He also defended Lammens against any blame, noting the pitch was dry and describing the incident as bad luck: “you shouldn’t crucify the guy, he’s had a great season at United and he doesn’t deserve this.”
The injury could have consequences beyond this tournament. Courtois had only recently returned from a right quadriceps problem earlier in the year, and this latest setback threatens his availability for the start of Real Madrid’s 2026-27 campaign, a season already tightening the goal position behind him in José Mourinho’s squad.
Courtois’ World Cup appearances now number 21, the second-most for any goalkeeper, behind Germany’s Manuel Neuer. After the match, he indicated that he might consider stepping away from international football for a period, though head coach Rudi Garcia said Courtois had not raised this with him, the federation, or his teammates in the dressing room.
“You’re not happy when you have to leave a quarterfinal of a World Cup,” Courtois said. “We’re very proud of everything we’ve done. We are a small country of not even 12 million people that, in big tournaments, show amazing things.”