Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon sprinted off his line to beat a charging Kylian Mbappe to the ball with France desperately seeking a goal in the World Cup semifinals.
While Simon managed to get there first and head the ball away, he suddenly had the World Cup’s co-scoring leader between him and the net with France forward Desire Doue trying to get control of the ball.
Even in that rare moment of chaos late in the match, the structured Spanish defense and the standout keeper again didn’t allow a goal. Spain ended up beating France 2-0 to advance to the World Cup final, 16 years after winning the title the only other time the team made it that far at the tournament.
It was the record sixth shutout for Spain at this year’s expanded 48-team World Cup. After the ball went directly to Doue off Simon’s header, the keeper frantically sprinted back. Simon managed to turn his body to get his back to the net and made a leaping, no-hands deflection on the edge of the area. He then needed several strides before finally being able to fall on the ball.
The latest shutout for Simon and Spain came against FIFA’s top-ranked team, which had Mbappe coming into the match with 20 goals in his 20 World Cup games. The France captain was the Golden Boot winner in 2022, and his eight goals in this year’s tournament are even with Argentina great Lionel Messi, the all-time leader with 21.