WATCH: Mikel Merino is hero for Spain again in 2-1 win over Belgium i…

Spain vs Belgium FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarterfinal: Belgium became the first team to score against Spain in the FIFA World Cup 2026 and ended Unai Simon’s record-breaking shut-out streak. But that wasn’t enough for the Belgian as Mikel Merino once again emerged as the hero for Spain in their 2-1 win in the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarterfinal match at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday.

Merino, who scored the crucial winner against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in Round of 16 clash, claimed the winning goal in the 88th minute of the game to set up a showdown against Kylian Mbappe’s France at the AT & T Stadium in Dallas on Tuesday.

“I’ve done this again, and it’s happened to me again, so it would seem that coincidence exists. If you’re ready and you try, I guess it can happen for you,” Arsenal mid-fielder Merino said after the match. orlando-books.blog

WATCH Mikel Merino score the winner vs Belgium HERE…

MIKEL MERINO GIVES SPAIN THE LEAD IN THE 88TH MINUTE! IT’S HIM ONCE AGAIN!

Spain 2-1 Belgium pic.twitter.com/ir7L2xXLxM

— Caleb (@CalebDesignsX) July 10, 2026

Fabian Ruiz had put Spain in front, half an hour into the quarterfinal after starting in the line-up ahead of Pedri. But Charles de Ketelaere, who had scored twice in the game vs United States in the Round of 16 match, became the first player to score against Spain in this World Cup late I the first half.

But Merino notched up his second goal in his first World Cup — and both of them have been historic. “Honestly, it’s crazy to be able to help the team once again. This time in a different way, but at the same time to believe and trust that the opposing goalkeeper could make a mistake and to stay alert. … I prepare for when the moment comes, and hopefully they keep coming,” Merino was quoted as saying by AP news agency.

Belgians were hampered by an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Thibault Courtois in he second half as his replacement Senne Lammens spilled the ball right in front of Merino to concede the crucial goal. Merino came on in the 86th minute and scored on his second touch of the match.

“We came here for this, to play against the best teams in the world. We are confident in our possibilities, at the same time respecting the opposition. This is one of those games that you dream of when you’re a kid, and now we have the chance to compete against a massive rival. Hopefully we’ll get the win,” Merino said after the match.

Spain’s run of six straight cleansheets was the best-ever by any team and they set a new record of not conceding a goal for 649 minutes. Under coach Luis de la Fuente, Spain have now progressed from all seven of their knockout games at major tournament (World Cup or Euros). The only manager to better this record in the first eight such matches with a European nation is Vittorio Pozzo, who won his first eight with Italy between 1934 and 1938.

“It will be a clash of giants. We are capable of winning this game — and not just now, but I would have said this a few weeks ago as well. They are a great giant of football, but I trust our team,” De La Fuente was quoted as saying by AP news agency.

Spain have now reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup for only the second time after 2010, when they went on to win the tournament in South Africa. They are unbeaten in 37 straight competitive matches since March 2023, while Belgium’s streak of 18 consecutive unbeaten matches across all competitions ended on Friday.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Lamine Yamal (6) became the first player to make more than five appearances at the FIFA World Cup while aged 18 or younger. Only France captain Kylian Mbappe has more appearances at the tournament as a teenager (7).

Yamal became the first player to complete more than 20 dribbles in this World Cup. He also had the most touches in the opposition box – 12 and most shots on goal as well – 6.

Perhaps, luck is finite after all. Belgium rode theirs in the Round of 32 victory over Senegal, but there was no such rub of the green against Spain, one of the tournament favourites. The Red Devils were very much in the contest at 1-1 before the wheels started to come off.

Already without Amadou Onana, who suffered an ACL injury in the previous match against the USA, Belgium were also dealt another blow when captain Youri Tielemans was injured during the warm-up. Leandro Trossard was forced off after an hour, and Thibaut Courtois left the pitch in tears after 71 minutes. Kevin De Bruyne was then substituted a minute after picking up a yellow card.

Spain sensed their opportunity and took it. Mikel Merino once again popped up with a late goal to settle a knockout tie. In truth, it was no more than Spain deserved. They had four times as many shots on target and nearly four times as many touches in the opposition penalty area. What was missing for much of the game was the final pass or the finishing touch, with Lamine Yamal particularly culpable as Spain repeatedly carved open the Belgian defence.

Whatever the possession statistics suggested, Luis de la Fuente’s side knew they were in a proper contest. Belgium became the first team to score against Spain in seven World Cup matches when a superb cross from Thomas Castagne was converted by Charles De Ketelaere four minutes before half-time.

One of the few areas of little concern in the Belgian squad was supposed to be goalkeeping. Senne Lammens of Manchester United is widely regarded as the long-term successor to Courtois. It was therefore a disappointing evening for Belgian supporters as both Spanish goals stemmed from goalkeeping errors.

Courtois could certainly have done better from Dani Olmo’s first-half strike, which he could only parry into the path of Fabián Ruiz. Lammens will always be haunted by the Pau Cubarsí hit that he failed to gather, allowing Merino to sweep home as the clock wound down.

Either way, this feels very much like the end of Belgium’s golden generation. It is unlikely that we will see Kevin De Bruyne in international colours again, and attention will now turn to how Belgium rebuild.

For Spain, the unbeaten run stretches to 36 matches, dating back to March 2024. They now face France in a mouth-watering semi-final in Dallas. Spain won 2-1 when the sides met at the same stage of Euro 2024, but this France team appears very different, playing with far greater ambition and purpose. It promises to be a fascinating contest, especially if Spain rediscover the shooting boots they misplaced for much of this match.

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Guwahati (Assam) [India], July 11 (ANI): The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) has announced the players’ pool for the inaugural edition of the Assam Premier League (APL).

A total of 275 players have been shortlisted from among the registered players who expressed interest in participating in the league. The pool comprises 20 marquee players and over 250 players in the general category, all of whom will go under the hammer at the APL Player Auction as the franchises bid to assemble their squads for the first season, according to a release.

The marquee list is drawn from Assam’s senior domestic ranks. Denish Das, Sibsankar Roy, Sumit Kashyap, Swarupam Purkayastha and Jitumoni Kalita lead the batting and all-round options, while Mrinmoy Dutta, Muktar Hussain, Avinav Choudhary, Rahul Singh, Sadak Hussain and Bhargab Pratim Lakhar headline the bowling group.

Saahil Jain, Pradyun Saikia and Saurav Mousum Dihingia add depth to the batting pool, Abdul Ajij Kuraishi, Akash Sengupta and Ayushman Malakar bring all-round strength, and Sumit Ghadigaonkar, Rohit Sen and Ruhinandan Pegu are the wicketkeeping choices. All 20 have played BCCI tournaments for Assam and are expected to attract the strongest bidding on auction day.

The APL Player Auction will be held on 19th July, 2026, at the ACA Stadium, Guwahati, where the participating franchises will select players to form their respective squads for the inaugural season.

The league will give Assam’s cricketers a stage to perform in front of selectors and will feed directly into the identification and selection of players for the forthcoming BCCI domestic season. (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

જર્મન સ્ટાર એલેક્ઝાન્ડર ઝ્વેરેવે વિમ્બલ્ડન 2026 ની પહેલી સેમિફાઇનલમાં ઇતિહાસ રચ્યો. છેલ્લા 10 વર્ષથી ગ્રાન્ડ સ્લેમ રમી રહેલા ઝ્વેરેવે પોતાની કારકિર્દીમાં પહેલી વાર વિમ્બલ્ડનની ફાઇનલમાં પ્રવેશ કર્યો. 1995 પછી આ પહેલી વાર બન્યું છે કે કોઈ જર્મન પુરુષ ખેલાડી વિમ્બલ્ડનની ફાઇનલમાં પહોંચશે. 31 વર્ષમાં આ પહેલી વાર બન્યું છે જ્યારે કોઈ જર્મન ખેલાડી વિમ્બલ્ડનની ફાઇનલમાં રમ્યો છે. અગાઉની ફાઇનલ 1995 માં જર્મનીના બોરિસ બેકર દ્વારા યોજાઈ હતી. ઝ્વેરેવે બ્રિટનના આર્થર ફર્ડીને સતત ત્રણ સેટમાં 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 થી સરળતાથી હરાવીને ફાઇનલમાં પોતાનું સ્થાન સુરક્ષિત કર્યું.

ઝ્વેરેવ સતત બીજી ગ્રાન્ડ સ્લેમ ફાઇનલમાં પહોંચ્યો

કાર્લોસ અલ્કારાઝ જેવા અગ્રણી ખેલાડીઓના પ્રારંભિક આઉટ થવાથી ઝ્વેરેવને ફાયદો થયો. આ વર્ષે (2026) ફ્રેન્ચ ઓપન જીત્યા પછી, ઝ્વેરેવ હવે સતત બીજી ગ્રાન્ડ સ્લેમ ફાઇનલમાં પહોંચ્યો છે. તેણે સેમિફાઇનલમાં પણ શાનદાર પ્રદર્શન કર્યું, જેના કારણે બ્રિટનના આર્થર ફેરીને ટકી રહેવાની કોઈ તક મળી નહીં. ફેરીએ પહેલા સેટમાં ઝ્વેરેવની સર્વિસ તોડી નાખી હતી, પરંતુ જ્યારે ટાઇબ્રેકનો સમય આવ્યો ત્યારે તે એક પણ પોઈન્ટ મેળવી શક્યો નહીં. આમ, ઝ્વેરેવે પહેલો સેટ 7-6થી જીત્યો. ત્યારબાદ તેણે મેચમાં પોતાનું વર્ચસ્વ જાળવી રાખ્યું, તેની શક્તિશાળી સર્વિસ પર આધાર રાખ્યો, જે લગભગ 214 કિલોમીટર પ્રતિ કલાકની ઝડપે પહોંચી હતી, અને બાકીના બે સેટ સરળતાથી 6-2, 6-4થી જીતી લીધા.

https://x.com/Wimbledon/status/2075594163060367406?s=20

BlogGiri victory ends Praggnanandhaa realistic bid for the 2026 Candidates titlePraggnanandhaa loss to Anish Giri in the eighth round left him with three points, three points behind the leader Javokhir Sindarov, and his realistic chances of winning the 2026...Open →

ઝ્વેરેવ પહેલી વાર વિમ્બલ્ડનની ફાઇનલમાં રમશે

આ જીત સાથે, ઝ્વેરેવ એવા ખેલાડીઓના ચુનંદા જૂથમાં જોડાશે જેમણે પોતાની કારકિર્દીમાં ચારેય ગ્રાન્ડ સ્લેમ ફાઇનલમાં રમી છે. વધુમાં, તે 1968 પછી વિમ્બલ્ડનની ફાઇનલમાં પહોંચનાર ફક્ત ત્રીજો જર્મન ખેલાડી છે. તેમના પહેલા, જર્મનીના બોરિસ બેકર અને માઈકલ સ્ટિચે આ સિદ્ધિ હાંસલ કરી હતી. માઈકલ સ્ટિચે છેલ્લે 1991માં જર્મની માટે વિમ્બલ્ડન જીત્યું હતું. ઝ્વેરેવ પહેલી વાર વિમ્બલ્ડનની ફાઇનલમાં રમશે, જે અગાઉ ક્યારેય ટુર્નામેન્ટના ચોથા રાઉન્ડ (રાઉન્ડ ઓફ 16) થી આગળ વધ્યો નથી. આ 2026 માં તેનો ત્રીજો ગ્રાન્ડ સ્લેમ ફાઇનલ હશે. તે અગાઉ આ વર્ષે ઓસ્ટ્રેલિયન ઓપન અને ફ્રેન્ચ ઓપનની ફાઇનલમાં રમ્યો હતો, જેમાં તેણે ફ્રેન્ચ ઓપનનો ખિતાબ જીત્યો હતો. તે ઓસ્ટ્રેલિયન ઓપનમાં હારી ગયો હતો.

આ પણ વાંચો - FIFA World Cup 2026 : સ્પેને ક્વાર્ટર ફાઇનલમાં બેલ્જિયમને 2-1થી હરાવ્યું,હવે સેમિફાઇનલમાં આ ટીમ સાથે ટક્કર

India cricket team have one final chance to avoid a complete whitewash as they take on England in the ENG vs IND 5th T20I in Southampton on Saturday. The defending champions have remained winless after lifting their 3rd T20 World Cup, having first lost 0-2 to Ireland followed by three consecutive losses to the Three Lions. Shreyas Iyer, who is yet to secure his first win as the captain, will be forced to make more than just one change to the playing XI for the must-win tie.

After all, the Indian team has admitted on various occasions that they have failed to adapt to the conditions in the UK. Technical flaws, tactical blunders, failure to read the conditions correctly and play accordingly have boggled India in this series, highlighting a major problem for the side ahead of the T20 World Cup 2028 in Australia where they will be playing on similar tracks and conditions.

Predicted India playing XI for ENG vs IND 5th T20I

Sanju Samson returns, Sooryavanshi out

After three back-to-back defeats, India might be compelled to bring back Sanju Samson into the playing XI for the ENG vs IND 5th T20I. The T20 World Cup 2026 Player of the Tournament was dropped after failing to fire in three consective games and was replaced by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the line-up. However, the 15-year-old did not produce results as expected despite showing promising signs.

The excessive presence of left-handers in the XI might force the Indian team management to bring Sanju back into the fold. This will allow the team to strike a left-right hand balance at the top of the order, something that has worked for India in the past. Samson, who has scored 5, 0 and 1 in his last three outings, may be presented with one last chace to redeem himself before the Asian Games 2026, in a bid to cement his spot as an opener.

To bench Sooryavanshi would be an unfair call. However, the past three games have shown that the 15-year-old needs more experience playing in the senior side and in conditions that the surfaces in the UK have presented in order to become better. 14, 13 and 15 are his scores in the last three games, indicating that while he has the ability to give a good start, the England bowlers – especially Jofra Archer – seems to have found a hack to make the 15-year-old his bunny.

Short ball struggles ft. Ishan Kishan, other batters

The Indian batters have quite literally struggled against short deliveries from seamers in the ENG vs IND series. While they have scored 171 runs from 118 short-pitched deliveries, they have lost 11 wickets, averaging 15.54 at a strike rate of 144.9. From young Sooryavanshi to experienced candidates like Ishan Kishan, most batters have struggled to deal with this menace. The ENG vs IND 5th T20I presents one last chance for Kishan to make amends to his technique to deal with the short balls.

Sooryavanshi can only play at the top of the order. Therefore, in order to accomodate Samson, he must be dropped. After all, the decision to expose him to England in his very first T20I series has been questioned by experts. Another option could be to play Samson at number 3 – a position where he has scored the most number of runs in T20s. However, continuing with Kishan at number 3 will keep the left-right balance intact.

Pressure on Tilak Varma

Tilak Varma will be the most pressurized batter in the Indian XI. In the four games that he has played in the ENG vs IND T20I series, he has only managed to score 51 runs at a miserable strike rate of 118.60 and averaging just 17 (13, 24*, 3 and 11). These numbers certainly do not warrant for a spot in the line-up, and certainly are not the numbers that a finisher will want against his name.

Dropping Tilak is hard, as he is the vice-captain for the Indian team. However, time might be running out of his hands as well. The batter will have to return to scoring runs in the ENG vs IND 5h T20I else face the risk of being shown the door in the future.

Bowling blues

The bowlers have let down the Indian team multiple times in this series and captain Shreyas Iyer has made no attempts to hide it. Ravi Bishnoi was thrown under the bus for conceding 60 runs in the 2nd T20I that allowed England to snatch the win. In the previous game, Iyer blamed the bowlers for not executing their plans to the T as India lost by 9 wickets. To make matters worse, India have lost Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy to injuries.

India are expected to field Arshdeep Singh and Prince Yadav in the pace department, with Shivam Dube expected to play the third fiddle. Given Gautam Gambhir’s obsession with all-rounders, Washington Sundar could replace Rana in the XI while Suryansh Shedge is likely to get a game in place of Axar Patel. With Chakravarty being ruled out, India might have no option but to bring back Bishnoi into the playing XI. And, it also remains to be seen how Sundar will be used with the ball.

The post ENG vs IND 5th T20I: Time for Sanju Samson to return, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to sit out with India’s no.1 spot in danger appeared first on Inside Sport India.