Spain’s victory over Belgium in the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup was accompanied by a series of impressive statistics, with Luis de la Fuente making history on the “Roja” bench.

The Spanish coach has now gone 13 games without a loss in the knockout stages of the World Cup and European Championship, with a record of 12 wins and one draw. This is the longest unbeaten streak by a coach in the two top international tournaments.

At the same time, under De la Fuente’s guidance, Spain has advanced in all seven knockout matches it has played in the World Cup and Euro. Only Vittorio Pozzo had started with more consecutive qualifications against European teams, having celebrated eight with Italy between 1934 and 1938.

Mikel Merino’s achievement is also noteworthy. The Arsenal midfielder became the first Spaniard to score two winning goals after the 80th minute in World Cup matches. In fact, in both instances, he had come on as a substitute—first against Portugal and then against Belgium.

Until this year’s tournament, Spain had never seen a substitute score the winning goal in a World Cup knockout match. Merrino managed to do it twice in just a few days.

Spain’s defensive performance leading up to Charles De Ketelaere’s goal was also remarkable. La Roja had kept a clean sheet for 649 consecutive minutes in World Cups, setting the longest streak without conceding a goal in the tournament’s history.

Belgium became the first team to score against Spain in a World Cup since Japan in the 2022 group stage, ending a streak of six consecutive clean sheets.

De la Fuente’s team thus continues its undefeated run and is preparing for the semifinal against France, now backed not only by its on-field performance, but also the statistics that confirm its consistency and effectiveness.

*photo source: AP