Madrid World Cup Spotlight: Thibaut Courtois and Belgium survive by the skin of their teeth against Senegal | OneFootball

Real Madrid have had an excellent showing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup thus far, with many of their players making an impression at the tournament.

Undoubtedly, the star performer has been Kylian Mbappe, with the Frenchman seemingly in unstoppable attacking form for Les Bleus.

Vinicius Jr has also been excellent for Brazil, although he could not score against Japan and will be keen to make amends against Norway.

Last night, England faced DR Congo in a tight affair that the Three Lions eventually won 2-1, and Jude Bellingham featured in it.

Senegal vs Belgium was even more dramatic. For 85 minutes, the African side completely dominated and were right on top.

However, Belgium, led by an inspired Romelu Lukaku, scored twice in three minutes to take the tie to extra time before scoring the winning goal in stoppage time.

From a Madrid perspective, Thibaut Courtois was in goal for Belgium. Here is how Los Blancos’ star duo fared on the night.

Jude Bellingham vs DR Congo

Bellingham failed to inspire against Congo. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Real Madrid had two players living through very different kinds of World Cup stress, and both came out of it with their teams still alive.

Jude Bellingham started as England came from behind to beat DR Congo 2-1. This was not the explosive follow-up to his excellent display against Panama.

He was booked in the first half as England struggled to impose themselves after Brian Cipenga’s seventh-minute opener.

Bellingham kept arriving in dangerous areas and had three efforts saved. He was involved and aggressive, but the final product was lacking.

Bellingham did not disappear when England were under pressure. He kept asking questions, kept making runs and helped keep the match tilted towards DR Congo’s goal before Harry Kane eventually turned it around.

If there was not much to take away from Bellingham’s game, it definitely was not for a lack of trying, and that is a positive.

This game showed that England still rely heavily on individual moments. Kane scored twice and Anthony Gordon assisted both goals.

The important part is that Bellingham stays alive to fight another day at the competition.

Thibaut Courtois vs Senegal

Thibaut Courtois survived an even wilder night as Belgium recovered from 2-0 down to defeat Senegal 3-2 after extra time.

Courtois put on a commanding performance vs Senegal. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

It was a very difficult night, emotionally, for Madrid’s shot-stopper. Senegal actually won the xG battle 3.54 to 1.80.

That alone shows how much Belgium had to survive before their late comeback.

Courtois still made three saves and Belgium’s back line needed 28 clearances to get through the Senegal storm.

This was not a clean, dominant goalkeeper performance. The veteran shot-stopper almost made a huge mistake early in the first half.

He failed to deal with a cross into the box, only to divert it into the path of Ismail Sarr, who bundled it on to the post.

Courtois also could not come up with his usual heroics to stop either goal for his country. It is fair to say that Belgium survived in this tournament by the skin of their teeth.

Mentally, the Madrid star would have been preparing for the game to go into a penalty shootout, which would have given him a chance to become a star for his nation.

However, Belgium were handed a controversial late penalty, which Youri Tielemans bundled home to take them to the next round and set up a date with the USA.