Unai Simon’s superb performances in goal for Spain have earned him the adidas Golden Glove Award for the .
In helping La Roja to their second global crown with a , Simon registered an astounding seven clean sheets and conceded just one goal, which came in their 2-1 quarter-final victory against Belgium.
His seven clean sheets are the most ever registered in a single World Cup. Seven goalkeepers had managed five: the Netherlands’ Jan Jongbloed in 1974, Italy’s Walter Zenga in 1990, Brazil’s Claudio Taffarel in 1994, France’s Fabien Barthez in 1998, Germany’s Oliver Kahn in 2002, Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon in 2006 and Spain’s Iker Casillas in 2010.
Dating back to Qatar 2022, Simon had gone 649 minutes without conceding in a World Cup match until the Belgium match.
He becomes the second Spain shot-stopper to claim the award, following in the footsteps of South Africa 2010 winner Casillas.
1994: Michel Preud'homme (Belgium) 1998: Fabien Barthez (France) 2002: Oliver Kahn (Germany) 2006: Gigi Buffon (Italy) 2010: Iker Casillas (Spain) 2014: Manuel Neuer (Germany) 2018: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium) 2022: Emiliano Martinez (Argentina)
The adidas Golden Glove was previously known as the Yashin Award. It was not handed out before 1994.
Sources: FIFA Official
