New Delhi, July 11 -- LOS ANGELES - Mikel Merino had been on the pitch for two minutes when he settled it. A Pau Cubarsi shot from distance, substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens getting his hands to it but failing to secure the ball, and Merino arriving at the rebound in the 88th minute to poke Spain into a 2-1 World Cup quarterfinal victory over Belgium at the Rose Bowl. France wait in Dallas on Tuesday.

The decisive moment arrived against the backdrop of a match Spain should have controlled and briefly lost. For 649 minutes of tournament football they had conceded nothing. Charles De Ketelaere ended that run in the 41st minute, meeting a Timothy Castagne cross from the right with a header that Unai Simon could not keep out. Belgium were...