Key Points:
- Unai Simón set a new Guinness World Record for the longest clean sheet in FIFA World Cup finals matches, going 519 minutes without conceding.
- He broke the previous record of 518 minutes, set by Italian keeper Walter Zenga in 1990.
- The clean sheet against Austria was Simón’s fifth in successive World Cup matches dating back to the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
- His streak spans 159 minutes at Qatar 2022 and 360 minutes at the 2026 finals, with clean sheets against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Austria.
- The win sets up a round-of-16 tie against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in Dallas.
A Spanish goalkeeper has made history at the FIFA World Cup. Unai Simón has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest clean sheet in FIFA World Cup finals matches, going 519 minutes without conceding. Spanning two World Cups, Simón has now gone five successive matches without letting in a goal.
With this achievement, the Spanish shot-stopper has broken a record that stood for over three decades. He reached the milestone during Spain’s 3-0 win over Austria at the Los Angeles Stadium in the Round of 32, becoming the first player to reach 519 goalless minutes in the tournament’s history.
Record broken: legendary goalkeeper Walter Zenga
Simón surpassed the previous mark of 518 minutes, set by Italian keeper Walter Zenga in 1990. Zenga’s streak had ended in the 67th minute of the 1990 World Cup semifinal against Argentina. Guinness World Records confirmed the achievement and shared the details on the platform X, noting that the longest time played in World Cup finals matches by a goalkeeper without conceding a goal is now 519 minutes, held by Spain’s Unai Simón.
Record set across two World Cups
Simón built the record by combining performances across two tournaments. At the 2026 edition, he kept clean sheets against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, and Austria, the first three in the group stage and Austria in the Round of 32, for a total of 360 minutes. That followed 159 consecutive minutes at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, including 120 minutes without conceding in the Round of 16 before a penalty shootout.
Although Spain was eliminated by Morocco on penalties in the Round of 16 in Qatar 2022, Simón did not concede during the 120 minutes of play, underlining the strength of his performance.
The last time Simón was beaten in a World Cup match was Spain’s group-stage loss to Japan, when Ao Tanaka scored the eventual winner on December 1, 2022. Since then, he has kept every opponent at bay. Even before this milestone, Simón had surpassed the mark set by legendary former Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who had gone 476 consecutive minutes without conceding across the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
The victory now sets up a marquee fixture. Spain will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in Dallas, after Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the round of 32.
