Early this morning (July 3rd), Spain convincingly defeated Austria 3-0 in the first knockout round of the 2026 World Cup. In this match, Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro were the two players who scored for La Roja, with Oyarzabal scoring a brace.
By defeating Austria, Spain secured their first World Cup knockout victory since beating the Netherlands in the 2010 final. On the day they ended a 16-year winless streak in the knockout rounds, La Roja also extended their impressive clean sheet record.
According to statistics, including the 0-0 draw against Morocco in the Round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup (Spain lost 0-3 on penalties), La Roja has kept a clean sheet in 5 consecutive matches in this tournament (one match at the 2022 World Cup and four matches at the 2026 World Cup).
Spain became the third team in history to keep a clean sheet in five consecutive World Cup matches, after Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-2010).
On a personal level, Unai Simon made history by becoming the goalkeeper with the longest streak of clean sheets at the World Cup with 519 minutes. Previously, this record belonged to Italian football legend Walter Zenga, who set the milestone at 517 minutes in 1990.
Prior to his run of five consecutive clean sheets, Simon last conceded a goal in Spain's 1-2 defeat to Japan in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup. In those five clean sheets in the tournament, the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper made seven saves, including three blocks of shots from inside the penalty area.
Based on his performances, Simon has shown that he fully deserves the trust of coach Luis de la Fuente. The Spanish coach caused much controversy when he chose Simon as the starting goalkeeper at this year's World Cup instead of Joan Garcia, the best goalkeeper in La Liga, and David Raya, the best goalkeeper in the Premier League in the 2025/26 season.