Thibaut Courtois maintains that he remained capable of playing in Belgium’s World Cup 2026 quarter-final loss to Spain, despite suffering a thigh injury during the second half.

Courtois displayed visible emotion after leaving the pitch in the 70th minute for substitute Senne Lammens. A late error by Lammens allowed Mikel Merino to score the decisive goal, ending Belgium‘s tournament run.

The Real Madrid goalkeeper clutched his left thigh but later explained that he felt comfortable enough to continue, noting that the substitution was a tactical call made by coach Rudi Garcia.

“It was with a long kick at the beginning of the second half; I felt something near my muscle,” Courtois stated in the post-match mixed zone.

“I made some saves. I felt okay, so I continued. Then, I kicked it long again and I felt it a bit more. So then, you know it’s something muscular, and you need to be careful.

“Obviously, I wanted to continue but the coach wanted someone 100%. So OK, it’s his decision. I wanted to try to play maybe five, 10 more minutes to see because I was feeling good. I was making saves and I was not disturbed to make those saves.

“I was only disturbed to kick long. So that’s a decision of the coach – and it’s not a problem.”

Courtois also offered support to his teammate Lammens following the late mistake, praising the Manchester United goalkeeper’s resilient character.

“I gave him a big hug – there’s not much more I can do at this moment,” he added. “He’s a great goalkeeper and he will only get stronger from this, he has a lot of personality.

“For me personally, obviously you are not happy when you have to leave a quarter-final of a World Cup. So we will rest for the next few weeks and then see what the injury is.”

Spain will now face France in a major semi-final clash in Dallas this Tuesday, marking a rematch of the Euro 2024 semi-final where Spain secured a 2-1 victory.