Belgium coach Rudi Garcia and striker Romelu Lukaku have challenged Spain ahead of their World Cup 2026 quarter-final clash on Friday evening.
Spain have not lost a single match and have not conceded a goal in the current World Cup, and have maintained an unbeaten record in 36 consecutive official matches since March 2023.
Clearly, this high level of performance does not intimidate Belgium, which is also witnessing a remarkable rise in the team's level before facing the Spanish national team.
While Spain has been the most consistently winning European team over the past three and a half years, Belgium has made its way to what may be the last chance for its golden generation to achieve a historic feat.
Garcia said at the press conference he held before the anticipated match: "Everyone is already talking about our exit from the tournament, but we are confident in our ability to win and to achieve a surprise, and we will do our best to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup."
Garcia added: "I think that before the last few days, we had 12 million Belgian fans, and now I think we have millions and millions who have joined our ranks all over the world."
The French coach noted, "I don't know what the situation will be like today, but it's not the fans who score goals. We will focus on what we can do."
For his part, Lukaku likened his feelings in this match to the match between the Belgian national team, nicknamed "The Red Devils," and Brazil in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Russia eight years ago, a match which his team won 2-1 in an amazing way.
Lukaku, Belgium's all-time leading scorer, said: "Today we have to play a perfect game if we want to qualify for the semi-finals. Spain are an excellent team, they have been playing the same style of football since 2008, and they are well prepared, but we have some advantages that might make things difficult for them. We enjoy the challenge."
