A major drawback of watching football on a television – or any screen for that matter – is the limited view of the field.

The camera invariably tracks the ball and the adjacent players, taking the rest of the on-field actors out of the picture, literally.

During Spain’s win over France in the World Cup semifinal on Tuesday, Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon had his fair share of screen time.

It was an all-action display from the Athletic Bilbao stopper as he kept his sixth clean sheet of this World Cup, the most ever by a goalkeeper in a single edition.

For all his saves and smothers and parries, Simon’s real impact in the semifinal happened away from the frame.

Simon’s starting position was regularly at the edge of his penalty box. This meant two things – he was constantly available for a back pass, ensuring that Spain could recycle possession easily and that he could swoop in and clear away probing long balls from France.

Without Simon holding such a high line, Spain could not have pushed its defensive unit closer to the half-line. Without its defenders higher up the pitch, the Spanish midfield could not have pressed and harried France with the intensity it did.

With not enough space to operate, the much-heralded French attack wilted as Spain cruised into its second World Cup final. France managed an expected goal tally of just 0.30, its lowest ever in a World Cup game in 60 years.

And on the rare occasions the French attackers were played through or over the Spanish press, Simon was there to mop it up, just in time.

The 29-year-old made three defensive actions outside the box, nicking the ball off the toes and heads of onrushing French attackers. It was, without doubt, playing with fire. If Simon was a moment or two late in any of those three occasions, he could have given France an easy goal.

For Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente, this is a risk-reward trade-off that he is more than willing to take.

De la Fuente’s trust on Simon was built over a decade. Together, they won the Under-19 European Championship in 2015, the U-21 European Championship in 2019, and a silver medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The relationship continued after De la Fuente took over the Spanish senior side in 2022. Simon powered Spain to the Nations League title in 2024, saving two penalties in the final shootout against Croatia, before anchoring La Roja’s Euro 2024 triumph.

But Simon’s relatively weaker stature in club football meant his position was always under scrutiny, with Arsenal’s David Raya and Barcelona’s Joan Garcia waiting in the ranks on the Spanish bench.

The cloud of doubts gained wind after Simon’s sub-par 2025-26 club season, which saw him concede 54 goals in La Liga from 37 games, keeping just six clean sheets.

De la Fuente’s faith, though, never wavered.

Ahead of the World Cup, the Spanish coach offered a passionate defence for his No. 1, labelling his stature in the team ‘indisputable’.

“It would be unfair if we didn’t value Unai Simon’s quality, class, career, and professional experience. It would be absurd for me to have to come here and reaffirm it, just because he’s Unai Simon. When a goalkeeper is at this level, you have to respect his standing and his career,” said De la Fuente.

Once the World Cup began, the criticism died down fast, just as it did in Euro 2024. The Spanish defence, under Simon’s hawkish supervision, was impregnable.

The first goal conceded by Spain in the World Cup came only in the quarterfinal. Before that was a run of five consecutive clean sheets during which Simon broke Italian shot-stopper Walter Zenga’s 36-year-record for most minutes without conceding a goal in the World Cup.

Key to the Spanish frugality was Simon’s ability as a sweeper-keeper, a role popularised by Germany’s Manuel Neuer.

In this World Cup, only England’s Jordan Pickford has pulled off as many sweeper-keeper actions as Simon, eight each.

Simon’s adventurous positioning and instinctive agility have allowed Spain to squeeze the space between the defensive and midfield lines, ensuring a more consistent and persistent press resulting in quicker ball recovery. Opposition attacks were often muffled right at their inception.

In this World Cup, Spain has been one of the best pressing teams; it has the third-best PPDA (passes per defensive action) and the fourth-highest Start Distance (the average distance from a team’s goal line where it begins its attacks) – 9.0 and 46.0, respectively.

On Tuesday, against arguably the most menacing attack of this World Cup, Spain stuck to its potentially risky high-line game, and it delivered; thanks in no small part to its off-frame fail-safe – Unai Simon.

Published on Jul 15, 2026