Thibaut Courtois was substituted in tears during Belgium's 2-1 loss to Spain in the World Cup quarter-finals, after suffering a thigh injury in his left leg. The Real Madrid goalkeeper went down requiring treatment midway through the second half at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, with the scores level at the time.
Match Context and Injury Details
Fabian Ruiz had scrambled Spain ahead before Charles De Ketelaere nodded Belgium level just before the break. However, the Red Devils were dealt a hammer blow when Courtois held his left thigh in pain, attempted to continue, and was ultimately substituted by manager Rudi Garcia, who turned to Manchester United's Senne Lammens.
The injury proved fatal for Belgium, as Lammens spilled Pau Cubarsí's effort from range, and substitute Mikel Merino of Arsenal gobbled up the rebound to book Spain's place in the last four, where they will face France, who defeated Morocco 2-0 on Thursday.
Additional Setbacks for Belgium
The Courtois loss compounded an earlier blow when Youri Tielemans, named in the starting XI, was forced to pull out during the warm-up after tweaking his hamstring. This was another huge disappointment for both Garcia and Tielemans' club Aston Villa, who had already seen Amadou Onana rupture his anterior cruciate ligament during the 4-1 victory over the United States in the round of 16.
Impact on Real Madrid
Real Madrid have undergone a serious squad overhaul this summer following the return of Jose Mourinho as manager. New arrivals include Ibrahima Konate, Denzel Dumfries, Marc Cucurella, and Bernardo Silva, while they also had a bid worth €150 million turned down for Atletico Madrid's Argentinian striker Julian Alvarez, formerly of Manchester City.
