Article & Photos Starlight Illustrated Staff /Monday July 06, 2026


Spain Blanks Portugal  1-0, in Round of 16,
Advance to Quarterfinal to face Belgium at FIFA World Cup 2026....
Mikel Merino scores the Winning goal in Stoppage-time 90+1...
 

STARLIGHT ILLUSTRATED WHERE THE GLOBAL CHAMPIONS & STARS SHINE: SMI GLOBAL SPORTS

LOS ANGELES, CA(SMI-GLOBAL-SPORTS-JUNE 11-JULY 19, 2026)-

Global-ranked #2, E Spain (2010 World Cup Champions/Europe) defeated Global #7, Portugal

1-0, with a late goal by Mikel Merino in the knockout round of 16, to help "La Roja" advance to Quarterfinal & face Belgium who beat USA 4-1, next Friday July 10, at Inglewood, Los Angeles, CA.

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Spain outperformed Portugal in the game stats 15-10, Shots, 6-3, shots on Target, 56%-44% Possession, and 522-434 Passes.

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A very competitive match between two European champions who collided in the knockout round of 16, with the winner advancing and the loser goes home.

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Spain went to the offensive from the start with two counter-attacks within the first 10' that barely missed the back of the net.Forward Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain) through the left side-field

shot a towards goals ending in the hands of goalkeeper D. Costa(3') and 5' later, Dani Olmo through the middle passed the ball to Oyarzabal who shot a right-footed hitting wide out of bounce at 8' mark. 

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At 16' mark, after Ronaldo shot towards goal was denied by goalkeeper Unai Simon sending the ball out of bound, Lamine Yamal through the right side field and during individual play inside the box shot a curled left-footed towards goal with goalkeeper Costa parrying the ball away bouncing back to Alex Baena who shot and goalkeeper Costa once again denying the goal with a sensational save out of bound.

With 10' left in the first period and Portugal on its last two major counter attack , Joao Neves centered inside the 6-yard box finding Joao Felix who shot towards goal with a header bouncing off goalkeeper Simon's chest to Ronaldo who tried to score with a volley but was saved by goalkeeper Simon, and 3' later, Nuno Mendes sent a shot towards goal deflecting off 

the head of defender Pedro Porro, bouncing off the crossbar out of bound to close out the half 

scoreless.

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Both teams kept the same momentum and offensive strategies trading counter attack the rest of the second half, until forward Mikel Merino score the winning the goal for Spain in stoppage-time 90+1,  after he received a pass inside the box and shot a hard left footed with towards the leftside goalpost ending in back of the net to seal 1-0, for Spain.

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With the win, Spain advance to quarterfinals to face Belgium who defeated US 4-1.

#fifaworldcup2026 #laroja

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#fifaworldcup2026 #fwc26 #fwc2026

#fifaseries2026 #fifaworldcupchampions

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