Goalkeeper Unai Simón delivered another impressive performance as Spain defeated France 2-0 in the World Cup semifinals on Tuesday, reaching the final while recording a tournament-record sixth clean sheet.
One of Simón's biggest moments came late in the match when he rushed off his line to beat France captain Kylian Mbappé to a loose ball as Les Bleus searched desperately for a goal.
After heading the ball clear, Simón briefly found himself out of position with France forward Desire Doue chasing the rebound. The Spanish goalkeeper sprinted back, turned his body toward the play and made a crucial no-hands deflection near the edge of the area before recovering the ball to preserve Spain's lead.
Spain advanced to the World Cup final for only the second time in its history, 16 years after winning its only previous title. The team will play either defending champion Argentina or England in Sunday's final.
The latest shutout came against FIFA's top-ranked side. Mbappé entered the match with 20 goals in 20 World Cup appearances and had won the Golden Boot in 2022. His eight goals in this year's tournament had matched Argentina great Lionel Messi's tournament-leading tally of 21 World Cup goals.
"We are very happy with the work the team has done. We knew it would be a very difficult game against spectacular players, but I think we have them too," Spain defender Pau Cubarsi said. "We are a great family. We helped each other for 90 minutes and pressed like never before."
Mbappé managed only three shots during the match, none of them on target, as France failed to create any clear scoring opportunities. The defeat also denied France the chance to become only the third nation to reach three consecutive World Cup finals.
"Spain defended very well. I've watched all of their matches and today they did it exceptionally well," France coach Didier Deschamps said. "They closed all the spaces and we also made technical mistakes. It's difficult to create chances when your technical level is below standard."
The only goal Simón has conceded in this tournament came in the 41st minute of Spain's 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Belgium, ending his World Cup record streak of 650 scoreless minutes.
Tuesday's semifinal was played at the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, where Spain had defeated Portugal 1-0 in the round of 16 eight days earlier to record its sixth consecutive World Cup match without conceding a goal. In that game, Simón denied two attempts from 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who was playing in the final World Cup of his career.
Spain's clean-sheet streak surpassed the previous World Cup record shared by Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-10). The run began with a goalless draw against Morocco in the 2022 round of 16, when Spain was eliminated in a penalty shootout, and also included a surprise scoreless draw against Cape Verde in this year's tournament.
Simón had broken the previous record of 517 consecutive scoreless minutes during Spain's 3-0 victory over Austria at the start of the knockout stage.