Simón managed to get there first, heading the ball away, but suddenly had the tournament’s co-scoring leader between him and the net, with French forward Desire Doue attempting to regain control.
Even in that frantic moment late in the match, the organized Spanish defense and the outstanding goalkeeper held firm, preventing a goal.
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Spain secured a 2-0 victory over France on Tuesday, advancing to the World Cup final 16 years after they last lifted the trophy. This marked Spain’s record sixth shutout in this year’s expanded 48-team World Cup.
After the ball deflected directly to Doue off Simón’s header, the keeper sprinted back into position. Simón adeptly turned, getting his back to the net, and executed a leaping, no-hands deflection at the edge of the area before finally landing on the ball.
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The latest shutout for Simón and Spain came against FIFA’s top-ranked team, which featured Mbappé, who entered the match with 20 goals in 20 World Cup appearances. The France captain was awarded the Golden Boot in 2022, and his eight goals in this tournament have him tied with Argentina’s Lionel Messi, the all-time leader with 21.
“We are very happy with the work that the team has done. Today we knew it would be a very complicated game with spectacular players, but I think we have them, too,” Spain defender Pau Cubarsi remarked in translated comments. “We are a great family. We have supported each other for 90 minutes; we pressed like never before.”
Mbappé took only three shots on Tuesday, with none on target. France failed to create significant scoring opportunities, missing out on a chance to become only the third team to reach three consecutive World Cup finals.
“Spain has been good defensively. I’ve watched all their matches, and today they performed exceptionally well,” said France coach Didier Deschamps. “They closed down all the spaces, and we made some technical errors, making it tough to generate chances when our technical level drops, especially compared to previous games.”
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The only goal Simón has conceded in this tournament was Belgium’s equalizer during Spain’s 2-1 quarter-final victory, ending his remarkable World Cup record of 650 scoreless minutes.
This semi-final match took place at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, where, just eight days prior, Spain defeated Portugal 1-0 in the round of 16, marking their sixth consecutive World Cup match without conceding a goal. Simón notably saved two shots from 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who was playing in his final World Cup.
This streak of shutouts for Spain broke a tie with Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-10). It commenced with a 0-0 draw in the round of 16 in 2022, where Morocco advanced via penalty shootout, including an unexpected goalless draw against Cape Verde this year.
Simón surpassed the prior record of 517 consecutive scoreless minutes during a 3-0 victory over Austria at the start of the knockout round.
