ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Spain broke a World Cup record with its sixth consecutive clean sheet and goalkeeper Unai Simón extended his record for the tournament's longest scoreless streak to 609 minutes in Monday's 1-0 win over Portugal.
Spain broke a tie with Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-10) for the most consecutive World Cup matches without allowing a goal. Spain’s streak began with a 0-0 draw in the round of 16 in 2022, when Morocco advanced after a penalty shootout.
There was also a surprising scoreless draw against Cape Verde to open group play in this tournament, followed by four consecutive shutout victories to advance to the quarterfinals.
Simón surpassed the previous record of 517 consecutive scoreless minutes during a 3-0 blanking of Austria to open the knockout round Thursday. Famed Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga set the standard in 1990 with five consecutive clean sheets in his home World Cup.
Simón's shutout streak started in 2022 in Qatar when he entered a 2-1 loss to Japan in a group play finale.
He came into the Portugal game having made only four saves in this World Cup — Austria had no shots on target — and on Monday at the home of the Dallas Cowboys, Simón had to make two saves in the first half against Portugal, both on shots by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The second of those saves was an impressive diving stop, when he was still in midair after reaching back to grab the ball with both hands. Ronaldo took that shot after teammate João Félix's header went off the shoulder of the 29-year-old Athletic Bilbao keeper, who didn't face a shot on target after halftime.
Simón hasn't surrendered a goal in international play since a 2-2 draw with Turkey in a World Cup qualifier last November.
“This record is the result of all of his teammates as well,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said in translated remarks. “Their solidarity, their generosity, their effort, their sacrifice. Everybody runs for one another.”
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