Unai Simón's World Cup Unbeaten Streak Ends at 649 Minutes After Belgium Goal

Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón's impressive World Cup unbeaten streak concluded at 649 minutes following a goal conceded against Belgium in the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup. The goal, scored by Charles De Ketelaere, brought an end to a remarkable run that had seen Simón establish a new historical record.

“

The Belgian Charles De Ketelaere scored Belgium's equalizer against Spain in the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup, ending Unai Simón's historic unbeaten record at 649 minutes.

Simón had already secured the absolute record for goalkeepers in the current tournament during the round of 16 match against Austria. He surpassed the previous record of 517 minutes set by Italy's Walter Zenga at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. This streak began during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with the last player to score against him being Japan's Ao Tanaka in the group stage on December 1, 2022.

“

The Spanish goalkeeper had already set the absolute record in the round of 16 against Austria, surpassing the 517 minutes set by Italy's Walter Zenga in the 1990 World Cup.

From that point forward, Simón maintained a clean sheet for the remaining 39 minutes against Japan, all 120 minutes of the knockout match against Morocco (which Spain won on penalties), and accumulated 270 minutes in the 2026 group stage matches against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay. He added another 180 minutes in the knockout stages against Austria and Portugal. While this run also earned him the record for consecutive matches without conceding, De Ketelaere's goal at the 41st minute prevented him from setting an unbeaten record within a single World Cup edition, as he needed to reach the 67th minute against Belgium to do so.

“

The sequence of Unai Simón began in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The last player to score against him was Japan's Ao Tanaka, who scored the decisive 2-1 goal in the 51st minute of the group stage match on December 1 of that year.