Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón's run of 650 consecutive minutes without a goal at the FIFA World Cup came to an end on Friday as Belgium became the first team to score against La Roja in the 2026 tournament.
Simón had gone 650 consecutive minutes without a goal and set a new World Cup record before Charles De Ketelaere had finally managed to beat him in Spain's 2-1 quarter-final victory over Belgium.
The breakthrough came in the 41st minute when Timothy Castagne delivered a pinpoint cross into the box and De Ketelaere got ahead of defender Pau Cubarsí to head the ball into the net, cancelling out Spain’s earlier opener and making it 1-1 before halftime.
Despite Simón's historic shutout streak being broken, Spain did respond late with Mikel Merino's 88th-minute winner to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals, where they will face France.
Belgium’s goal not only levelled the match but also ended one of the most impressive defensive runs in World Cup history.
Spain had reached the quarter-finals having kept six consecutive clean sheets in the tournament, which no other team had ever done before. Their defensive prowess started with a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde in their opening group-stage match before they won four straight shutout wins on their way to the last eight.
Simón’s scoreless streak actually dated back to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. It started after he came on as a substitute during Spain’s 2-1 loss to Japan in the group stage and continued during the Round of 16, where Spain drew 0-0 with Morocco before being eliminated on penalties.
The 29-year-old eventually managed 650 consecutive minutes without conceding, more than the previous world record of 517 minutes set by legendary Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga since the 1990 World Cup on home soil.
Simón officially broke Zenga's record during Spain's 3-0 victory over Austria in the Round of 16 earlier in the tournament.
Although the streak ended against Belgium, Simón was still instrumental in Spain’s victory with several big saves, keeping his side in the game and Merino’s late winner clinched qualification.
Spain now turn to a blockbuster semi-final against France, and with them a perfect defensive record despite ending their historic clean sheet run.
