Thibaut Courtois could not continue for Belgium against Spain in the World Cup quarterfinal, leaving the field in tears after needing treatment on the ground. Senne Lammens took his place under the crossbar in a game that was still level at 1-1.
That change mattered because Belgium was in its toughest test of the tournament, with Rudi Garcia watching his side try to hold off the European champions in a match that remained finely balanced. Lammens had not yet played a minute at this World Cup, so the replacement came at the sharpest possible moment.
Belgium had already spent long stretches defending, and that work had kept the match alive. Seys and Ngoy cleared several dangerous situations, while Spain answered with two changes of its own when De la Fuente sent on Pedri and Ferran Torres for Fabian Ruiz and Baena. The contest still had the feel of a game that could turn on one mistake.
The uncertainty came from Courtois himself. He went down, received treatment, and then walked off in tears, leaving Belgium to finish a quarterfinal with a goalkeeper who was only then getting his first minutes at this World Cup. That is the sort of disruption that can decide a knockout tie in a single phase of play, even when the score does not move.
For Belgium, the immediate question was no longer how to break Spain. It was whether Lammens could keep the line intact long enough to preserve the 1-1 position and carry the side through the match without its first-choice goalkeeper.
