The first two rounds of the FIFA World Cup knockout stage are in the books and the quarterfinals are underway. Following the tournament’s first off day on Wednesday, action resumed with France’s 2-0 victory over Morocco on Thursday (I cashed Under 2.5 goals with that result). Now it’s time for Spain and Belgium to take center stage in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon. These two powerhouses won their respective round-robin groups before charting quite different paths through the bracket en route to the last eight.
Let’s dive into my best bet for the World Cup quarterfinal between Spain and Belgium.
Spain vs. Belgium odds
To advance: Spain -300
To advance: Belgium +230
3-Way ML: Spain -154
3-Way ML: Belgium +425
3-Way ML: Draw +290
Over 2.5 goals -130
Under 2.5 goals +105
Spain -0.5 goals -165
Belgium +0.5 goals +130
Spain vs. Belgium prediction: Spain 3-Way ML (-154)
Spain has not conceded a goal since the round of 16…at the 2022 World Cup. You can’t make this stuff up, folks. Dating back to that match (a shootout loss to Morocco following a 0-0 draw), La Roja has posted six consecutive clean sheets — an all-time record in the history of this competition. Five have come in this World Cup, as the Spaniards blanked upstart Cabo Verde (in a 0-0 draw), Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay in Group H before disposing of Austria and Portugal to begin their knockout campaign.
Lamine Yamal went into this event with a hamstring injury and did not start in his team’s opening contest, but he has been getting better and better with each match. The 18-year-old scored against Saudi Arabia and is igniting the offense on a daily basis — even if the statistics can’t compare with the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, and others. Yamal is a big reason why forward Mikel Oyarzabal has found the back of the net four times in this World Cup.
It has to be said that an aging Belgian squad has been unspectacular more often than not in this competition. Yes, the Red Devils trounced the United States 4-1 in the round of 16, but the host nation turned in a downright awful performance. It’s not like Belgium had to do anything special. Romelu Lukaku and company really should have been on the next flight home in the round of 32, as it trailed Senegal 2-0 in the 86th minute before staging a miraculous comeback.
The Belgians will be without midfielder Amadou Onana, who suffered a torn ACL against the USA.
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