Mikel Merino took advantage of a late error from substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens to send Spain into a World Cup semi-final with France and break Belgian hearts.Lammens only came on at 71 minutes after Thibaut Courtois, one of the game’s finest goalkeepers, exited injured and in tears, with the Manchester United player spilling a shot from Pau Cubarsi 17 minutes later and Merino scoring with only his second touch of the game.Belgium demolished USMNT 4-1 to reach the quarter-finals but lost key midfielder Youri Tielemans to an injury during the warm-up and fell behind when Fabian Ruiz pounced on a rebound on 30 minutes.Lammens, on only his third Belgium appearance, tries to recover his error but can’t stop Merino (David Ramos/Getty Images)Spain had not conceded for almost 11 hours, but Belgium broke that run when a smart Kevin De Bruyne pass eventually led to Charles De Ketelaere planting a superb header past Unai Simon.Belgium wanted a penalty when the ball struck Rodri’s arm in the box, but it had bounced off a team-mate at close range and was not given by referee Michael Oliver or on VAR review.Courtois’ departure with what looked like a thigh injury was a blow for Belgium, and while Lammens has impressed in his debut Premier League season with United, he could not hold a shot from Cubarsi. Merino reacted quickest to poke it home.Spain will now play France in a World Cup semifinal in Dallas on Tuesday. The remaining quarter-finals between Norway and England, and Argentina and Switzerland, will be played on Saturday.Here, The Athletic’s Phil Hay, Tim Spiers and Anantaajith Raghuraman break down the key moments.Is France vs Spain the ‘real’ final?So it’s France versus Spain in the semi-final of the World Cup in Dallas on Tuesday, a meeting of arguably the best two teams in the competition.This seems to happen at every World Cup, a ‘final’ but played out in an earlier stage.It will be pitched as the unstoppable force of France meeting the immovable object of Spain. Didier Deschamps’ team undoubtedly possess the competition’s best attack, with Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Desire Doue forming a formidable front line that looks almost impossible for any defence to resist.If anyone can, it’s probably Spain. The goal they conceded to De Ketelaere here was the first they had let in during the whole competition, after keeping five successive clean sheets against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Austria and Portugal.There is also a school of thought that perhaps the best way to subdue or nullify France is by, well, not letting them have the ball, and for all the magic of Lionel Messi and the gripping football of Argentina, Spain are, again, probably the best team in the tournament for that.Either way, it has all the hallmarks of a classic World Cup encounter. And the victor will be favourites to lift the trophy next weekend, regardless of who they face in the final.