Spain vs Belgium: La Roja's Clean Sheet Record on the Line

Six consecutive World Cup clean sheets. Not five, not four — six. Spain have done something no team in the history of this competition has ever managed, and tonight at SoFi Stadium they put that extraordinary record up against arguably the most explosive Belgium attack in years. This is a proper match preview and a proper football question: can Rudi Garcia's Red Devils finally crack La Roja open?

Luis de la Fuente's side topped Group H with 7 points (W2 D1), beat Austria 3-0 in the round of 32, and then ground out a 1-0 win over Portugal with Mikel Merino's late, late goal sending Cristiano Ronaldo home for good. Spain have conceded nothing through five games — a defensive record so clean it borders on absurd. The backbone of that defence is settled and imposing. Pau Cubarsí (rating 7.6 across five appearances) and Aymeric Laporte (also 7.7) have been a wall at centre-back, while Marc Cucurella — who recently completed his move to Real Madrid — has been relentless down the left. Rodri anchors everything from midfield with a SAM rating of 8.6/10 and 7 key passes in this tournament already, and the stats confirm what the eye test tells you: this is the most complete Spain side since 2010. Mikel Oyarzabal is the tournament's sixth top scorer overall with 4 goals and 1 assist from just 5 appearances, sitting alongside Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham in the standings. He has been ruthless. Lamine Yamal (SAM 8.6/10, 1 goal) is still growing into this tournament after his hamstring troubles, but with 17 dribbles completed and two or three defenders permanently gravitating toward him, the space he creates is half the job. One concern for fantasy football purposes: both Nico Williams and Yeremy Pino remain sidelined — Williams with a groin issue, Pino with a shoulder sprain — leaving Alex Baena to continue filling in on the left flank.

Belgium, though, are not here to be polite about it. Garcia dropped De Bruyne, Doku and Lukaku against the USA — all three on the bench — and watched Charles De Ketelaere deliver a stunning brace as Belgium absolutely dismantled the host nation 4-1 in Seattle. De Ketelaere has 2 goals and 1 assist in this tournament, sits at a SAM rating of 8.4/10 with 8.1 fantasy points per game, and is becoming Belgium's most important attacking weapon. Dodi Lukebakio is the World Cup's joint-most clinical striker in the standings context nobody expected — 4 goals from just 3 appearances with a match rating of 8.1. Jeremy Doku (SAM 8.6/10) had 12 key passes in four games before being listed as doubtful with illness for tonight. That is a massive potential miss. Amadou Onana is already confirmed out for the rest of the tournament after rupturing his ACL against the USA — devastating for both him and Aston Villa's upcoming Premier League campaign. Zeno Debast is also sidelined with a leg injury, and Nathan Ngoy is suspended after picking up a red card. That is three significant absences for Garcia to manage. Kevin De Bruyne comes back into the picture here, but here's the thing — Belgium have actually looked sharper without him. His fitness after an injury-riddled club season is a genuine question mark, and the version of Belgium that murdered the USA was compact, athletic and ruthless. If De Bruyne tries to slow the tempo and impose himself, it could work against them entirely.

From a SAM rating and fantasy football standpoint, Pedri (7.2/10, 8.9 pts/game, 8 key passes across 5 appearances) is quietly one of the most important players in this fixture — he keeps Spain's possession engine running and allows Rodri to focus on destroying rather than creating. For Belgium's prospects in the bundesliga-style fantasy circles, De Ketelaere at 8.4/10 and Doku at 8.6/10 are the picks if fit. Belgium's right side via Trossard and Lukebakio against Spain's Cucurella is where goals might actually happen. The Red Devils have scored 12 goals in their last three games, and they have not kept a clean sheet in the knockout rounds — which tells you something about the chaos they bring to any match. Spain's expected goals against figure is just 1.5 all tournament. Those two facts cannot both survive tonight intact. Last time these two met at a World Cup was 1990, and Spain won 2-1. The historical edge is La Roja's.

Spain win this. Oyarzabal scores, Yamal causes havoc, and Rodri quietly controls the game like he always does. Belgium will have moments — De Ketelaere almost certainly gets a chance — but Luis de la Fuente's side are too organised, too tactically complete and too clinical to surrender a World Cup semi-final spot on this form. Spain 2-1. The clean sheet streak ends, but Spain march on.