Belgium manager Rudi Garcia bemoaned the fact that lady luck wasn't on his team's side in Belgium’s 2-1 World Cup quarterfinal defeat to Spain. Both teams scored one goal each in the first half of the match at SoFi Stadium on Friday, with Fabian Ruiz netting in the 30th minute before Belgium struck back 11 minutes later through Charles De Ketelaere.
Spain dominated possession throughout the game but couldn't find the breakthrough until the 88th minute, when Pau Cubarsi's shot was fumbled by the substitute Belgium goalkeeper, allowing Mikel Merino to score the winner as Spain clinched the match with their second goal.
Rudi Garcia rued a few slip-ups but said they did not have lady luck on their side that day and that the stars aligned for Spain. Garcia said after the loss, "We went in to press them. We put pressure on the key players, and honestly, the players were up to scratch. They sang from the song sheet that I gave them. They did exactly what they needed to do, but once again, we needed lady luck to be on our side, and unfortunately, she was smiling at Spain and not Belgium."
Rudi Garcia Reflects on Belgium's Quarterfinal Exit
Rudi Garcia also said that a few calls went in favour of Spain and that it is tough to come back from such moments. "There were too many things. The ducks just weren't in a row," Garcia said. "They [handled the ball] in the box. Michael Oliver was one thing, but what is VAR for? I actually think that for handballs it's going to be an eternal issue. The rules aren't stricter. I'm not going to say anything more about this action, but I think it's a situation that worked against us in a quarterfinal."
When asked about his future as Belgium manager, Garcia said that this was not the time to talk about it and that the focus should be on the Spain game. "We're not here to talk about the future. It's not the right moment," he stated. "We're here to talk about the game, the game against Spain. And that's the only thing. That's the only thing that matters tonight. I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed for those who maybe won't come back with the national team, those who were competing in the last global competition. I took a team that I wanted to take as far as possible, my veteran players who may be on their way out, so that they could have one last hurrah."
Unfortunately for Belgium, they couldn't come up with an equaliser. Garcia added,"My players believed in themselves right up until the end."
Spain beat Belgium 2-1 in a thriller, with Mikel Merino scoring the winner in the 88th minute. They will now be up against France in the semi-final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
