INGLEWOOD (CNS) – The eighth and final 2026 World Cup game at SoFi Stadium will be played Friday, with Belgium facing Spain in a quarterfinal.
Spain advanced to the quarterfinals for the seventh time and first time since 2010 with a 1-0 victory over Portugal Monday in Arlington, Texas with Mikel Merino scoring one minute into second-half stoppage time.
La Roja (The Red One) is seeking its first semifinal berth since 2010 when it won its lone championship.
Belgium advanced to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive tournament with a 4-1 victory over the United States in a round of 16 match Monday in Seattle. The Red Devils are seeking their third semifinal berth and first since 2018 when it finished third.
Mikel Oyarzabal leads Spain with four goals, putting him in a five-way tie for sixth in the tournament.
Romelu Lukaku leads Belgium with three goals, putting him in a 14-way tie for 11th.
Spain’s roster consists of 17 players who play in Spain, seven in England, and one each in France and Germany.
Belgium’s roster consists of seven players each who play in England and Italy, five in France, three in Belgium, two in Spain, and one each in Germany and Scotland.
Merino, fellow midfielder Martín Zubimendi and Spanish goalkeeper David Raye are teammates with Belgian forward Leandro Trossard on the English Premier League club Arsenal. Spanish midfielder and captain Rodri and Belgian forward Jérémy Doku are teammates with Manchester City of the EPL.
Spain is third in the unofficial rankings released after the completion of Thursday’s play by FIFA, soccer’s global governing body. Belgium is ranked eighth.
The ranking is considered unofficial until all matches are approved as international `A’ matches. The latest official ranking was released June 11, the day the World Cup began.
The Opta supercomputer gives Spain a 69.81% chance of advancing to the semifinals based on 10,000 pre-match simulations, Belgium a 30.19% chance.
The Belgium-Spain winner will face France, a 2-0 winner over Morocco in a quarterfinal Thursday in Foxborough, Massachusetts, in a semifinal Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.
Free watch parties will be held at the Westwood, Green Meadows and El Sereno recreation centers, MacArthur Park and the Central Library’s Taper Auditorium as part of the Kick It In the Park program organized by various city of Los Angeles departments.
More information is available at kickit.lacity.gov.
The Whittier Narrows Recreation Area in South El Monte and Venice Beach have been designated as Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Fan Zones. In addition to free viewing parties there will also be cultural activities, a local artisan marketplace and a variety of local food available.
Free watch parties will also be held at the Hammer Museum in Westwood, Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, the Ovation Hollywood shopping center and the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles. Inglewood’s Market Street corridor.
The noon match will be televised in English by Fox and in Spanish by Telemundo.
Youth Climate Strike Los Angeles members and other youth activists will protest what organizers describe as “sportswashing” by FIFA World Cup sponsors and corporate partners near SoFi Stadium.
Organizers said the demonstration will include a blockade and pickup soccer game aimed at drawing attention to alleged labor, environmental and human rights abuses involving corporate sponsors and partners associated with the tournament.
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