The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a formal communiqué, distributed to all EU embassies and copied to FIFA, noting that Belgium remains the only team to have scored against Spain at the 2026 World Cup. The communiqué was released forty-seven minutes after France's 2-0 defeat in the semifinal. It had clearly been pre-drafted.
“This is not a boast,” the statement reads. “It is a matter of historical and statistical record that we feel obligated to share with the international community. Spain have played seven matches at this tournament. They have conceded one goal. It was ours. We feel this deserves acknowledgement, particularly today.”
The word “today” is footnoted. The footnote reads: “July 14. Bastille Day. France's national holiday. We mention this only for context.”
The communiqué includes an appendix comparing Belgium's quarterfinal performance to France's semifinal. Belgium generated one goal from open play against Spain's defence. France, featuring Mbappé, Dembélé, and Olise, a forward line valued at approximately €450 million, generated 0.26 expected goals, which the appendix describes as “less than one goal, less than half a goal, and less than Belgium.”
A second footnote clarifies that the Ministry is “not qualified to interpret expected goals as a metric” but is “fully qualified to observe that 1 is larger than 0.26.”
The French embassy in Brussels has not responded. A source within the building described the communiqué as “received,” a word that in diplomatic French means “we have read it and will not be discussing it further.”
Belgians have been sharing the statistic on social media since the final whistle, accompanied by variations of “we lost in the quarterfinal but we scored”, a sentence that, in any other country, would be considered tragic but in Belgium constitutes a national celebration. The hashtag #WeScoredAgainstSpain was trending in Belgium by midnight. It was not trending anywhere else.
The communiqué closes with a paragraph the Ministry describes as “forward-looking.” It reads: “Belgium did not win the World Cup. Belgium did not reach the semifinal. Belgium's goalkeeper spilled a ball in the 88th minute and we have not yet fully processed this. But Belgium scored against Spain, and tonight, France, with all their talent, all their stars, and all their fireworks, did not. We take no pleasure in this. We take only the goal. The goal is enough. The goal is all we have. But it is ours, and no one else's.”
A final footnote adds: “Joyeux 14 juillet.”