Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon sets World Cup record with 519 straight scoreless minutes in net

INGLEWOOD: (Jul 3) (AP) Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon has the longest shutout streak in World Cup history, breaking a 36-year-old record while blanking Austria in a 3-0 victory Thursday for his fourth consecutive clean sheet in this World Cup.

Simon hasn’t allowed a goal in 519 consecutive minutes across the past two World Cups. He broke the record set in 1990 by famed Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga, who recorded 517 straight scoreless minutes and five consecutive clean sheets in his home World Cup.

The 29-year-old Athletic Bilbao mainstay isn’t the most famous goalkeeper in this competition — or even on his own team — but Simon’s outstanding play at the back of Spain’s superb defence has launched him into the World Cup record books.