Thibaut Courtois is leaning towards continuing his international career following Belgium's World Cup exit, though he believes he would benefit from a "break" of a year or so.

Mikel Merino came off the bench to score the decisive goal as Belgium were beaten 2-1 by Spain in Friday's quarter-final tie in Los Angeles.

Merino's strike came from an error by Senne Lammens in the Belgium goal, with the Manchester United goalkeeper spilling Pau Cubarsi's drive at the feet of the Arsenal man.

Lammens had come off the bench in the 71st minute to replace Courtois, who was in tears following his withdrawal after seemingly injuring his left thigh.

Before suffering that injury, Courtois had made four saves to help Belgium stay in the contest, and he repelled 70% of the shots he faced at the tournament overall (14/66).

Given Courtois turned 34 years old prior to the World Cup, many questioned whether it would be his final tournament with Belgium, but he is not currently thinking about international retirement. 

However, the Real Madrid goalkeeper will hold talks with Belgium's sporting director Vincent Mannaert and head coach Rudi Garcia before making any final decisions.

"Ultimately, it's something we need to discuss with the coach and Vincent," he said.

"It might be good to take a break from the Nations League for a year, to find some breathing room in a hectic schedule, and then return for the qualifiers and potentially the Euros. 

"But in the end, that's a decision for the coach and the federation. If they don't see it that way, I'll have to consider whether or not I can keep coming back. 

"Otherwise, today might have been my last match.

"Maybe I'm leaning more towards continuing than stopping, but we'll see. Ultimately, it's something we need to discuss with Vincent and the coach. We'll see what their perspective is, and then we can make a decision."

Belgium begin their Nations League campaign against Italy in September, with two matches against France and one versus Turkiye to follow during an extended international break.

Reflecting on his injury, Courtois revealed that he felt discomfort after making a clearance early in the second half but had wanted to continue, though he was at peace with Garcia's decision to withdraw him. 

"Obviously I wanted to continue but the coach wanted someone who was 100%, and that's okay, it's his decision," Courtois said.

"I wanted to wait five, 10 more minutes to see because in goal, I was feeling good, I was making saves. That's the decision of the coach, and that's not a problem.

"With Senne, I gave him a big hug, I cannot do much more. For goalkeepers, it's a s*** feeling.

"He's a great goalkeeper and he'll only get stronger from this, so it's not a problem. Eventually you cannot say much more to him.

"He's a strong guy, a strong personality and I'm sure he'll be fine. He'll have a holiday, he'll regroup, he'll go to Manchester United and have a great season, I have no doubt about this."