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A reliable last line of defense even against the odds: Unai Simon has allowed only one goal at the World Cup—he went 649 minutes without conceding a goal for the national team.
Keystone
Despite stiff competition, Unai Simon remains Spain's No. 1 goalkeeper. Why the coach is counting on him rather than Arsenal's David Raya or Barça's rising star Garcia.
His club has conceded almost the most goals in the Spanish league, and his toughest competitor is the English champion and a Champions League finalist—and yet Unai Simon remains untouchable as Spain’s No. 1. “Unai Simon is undisputed,” said national team coach Luis de la Fuente. Period. End of discussion.
But it’s not that simple. Because in Spain—and in England, too—they love to debate. Why on earth will this 29-year-old—who isn’t exactly outstanding in goalkeeping ability—be between the posts again in Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal against France (9:00 p.m. Swiss time)? Can he stop the brilliant offense featuring Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, and Ousmane Dembélé?
Well, there are, of course, arguments in its favor. One of them consists of three digits: 649. That’s how many minutes the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper went without conceding a goal at World Cups. In doing so, he broke the 36-year-old record set by Italy’s Walter Zenga. It wasn’t until the 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Belgium that Charles De Ketelaere beat him with a header for the first time in the current tournament.
Simon describes what is probably his greatest strength himself: “I can stay calm and composed under pressure.” You can’t train for that. “It’s probably something you’re born with.” Simon isn’t one to draw attention to himself. He’s modest and fits perfectly into the Spanish team dynamic. And at this World Cup, the Basque can count on his teammates in front of him. They’ve made sure he hasn’t faced even ten shots on goal so far.
Of course, Simon has his areas for improvement, too. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any discussions. One of them is his soccer skills. Simon has improved in this area, but he’s not among the absolute best in the world. “I’m still among those who believe that what matters most for a goalkeeper is to make saves, keep the opposing team from scoring, and handle every situation in the penalty area with confidence,” Simon said.
The competition is also fierce. David Raya won the Premier League title with Arsenal and lost in the Champions League final to Paris Saint-Germain only in a penalty shootout. Last season, the 30-year-old was named the Premier League’s best goalkeeper.
De la Fuente had already expressed his opinion on the matter some time ago. “In England, they consider him the best goalkeeper in the world. Here, nobody talks about him,” said the 65-year-old. Of course, he acknowledged that both Raya and Joan Garcia have “a lot of class and talent.”
Garcia is the starting goalkeeper for FC Barcelona. In his 30 league appearances this season, Garcia has allowed only 21 goals and recorded 15 shutouts. Simon, on the other hand, has conceded 54 goals in his 37 appearances. Overall, only four teams in La Liga have conceded more goals than Bilbao.
Coach De la Fuente and Simon are longtime teammates. In 2015, they won the U19 European Championship, and four years later, they claimed the title with the U21 team. At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where they won silver, Simon was De la Fuente’s number one player.
By the time he took over the national team after the disappointment of the 2022 World Cup, Simon was already the starting goalkeeper. So there’s certainly no way to say this was a solo decision by Fuentes. His predecessor, Luis Enrique, had already relied on Simon—and paid the price for it. “I had to take a lot of criticism, and I made him the starter. He deserves it,” said the current Paris coach.
Simon and De la Fuente have already experienced and won a great deal together at the highest level. Together, they won the 2023 Nations League, with Simon making two saves in the penalty shootout against Croatia in the final. A year later, they added the European Championship to their list of achievements.
And yet De la Fuente always has to defend his No. 1. And that’s exactly what he does. “I’m really happy for Unai. He was questioned and treated poorly for a long time. I hope now that some people will recognize his courage,” said De la Fuente. That was in June 2025, after the Nations League semifinal. The opponent, by the way, was France; Spain won 5–4.
14.07.2026, 05:30
14.07.2026, 08:24
