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Unai Simon’s impenetrable wall finally collapsed at the World Cup.
The Spanish goalkeeper had kept a clean sheet for a record 650 minutes – the longest scoreless streak of the tournament – before Belgium ended it in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Charles De Ketelaere beat Pau Cubarsi to head home a cross from Timothy Castagne in the 41st minute, making the score 1-1.
Belgium became the first team to score against La Roja at this year’s World Cup, breaking their tournament record of six consecutive clean sheets.
Spain’s streak began with a 0-0 draw in the round of 16 of the last tournament in 2022, when Morocco qualified after a penalty shootout. There was also a surprising goalless draw against Cape Verde in this year’s group opener, followed by four straight shutout victories to advance to the quarter-finals.
Simón broke the previous record of 517 consecutive minutes without a goal in a 3–0 victory over Austria to open the round of 16. Italian goalkeeper Walter Zenga set the previous mark in 1990 with five consecutive clean sheets at the home World Cup.
Simón’s shutout streak began in 2022 in Qatar when he suffered a 2–1 loss to Japan in group play.
The 29-year-old goalie faced just two shots in the first half Friday.
