Unai Simón continues to rewrite FIFA World Cup goalkeeping history. The Spain goalkeeper has now gone 609 minutes without conceding a goal at the tournament, extending his record for the longest clean sheet streak by a goalkeeper in World Cup history.

Simón's latest heroics came in Spain's dramatic 1-0 victory over Portugal in the Round of 16, as Mikel Merino's late strike sealed La Roja's place in the quarterfinals while keeping the Spanish goalkeeper's remarkable run alive.

Spain broke its tie with Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-10) for the most consecutive World Cup matches not allowing a goal. Spain’s streak began with a 0-0 draw in the round of 16 in 2022, when Morocco advanced after a penalty shootout.

There was also a surprising scoreless draw against Cape Verde to open group play in this tournament, followed by four consecutive shutout victories to advance to the quarterfinals.

Simón surpassed the previous record of 517 consecutive scoreless minutes during a 3-0 blanking of Austria to open the knockout round Thursday. Famed Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga set the standard in 1990 with five consecutive clean sheets in his home World Cup.

Simón's shutout streak started in 2022 in Qatar during a 2-1 loss to Japan to wrap up group play.

A determined Portugal side tested Spain, but Simón stood firm whenever called upon. Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo came closest to breaking the deadlock, forcing the goalkeeper into a save from a tight angle, while Simón also dealt confidently with Spain's defensive challenges throughout the contest.

Luis de la Fuente's side started strongly and should have taken an early lead when Dani Olmo played Mikel Oyarzabal through, but the forward missed a golden opportunity with only Diogo Costa to beat. Spain continued to threaten, with Lamine Yamal and Álex Baena forcing Costa into important saves.

Portugal grew into the game as the first half progressed and came closest to scoring when Nuno Mendes' effort deflected off Pedro Porro and struck the crossbar. However, Spain's defensive resilience and Simón's composure kept Ronaldo and company at bay.

The decisive moment arrived deep into stoppage time when a quick free-kick move involving Fabián Ruiz and Ferran Torres released Mikel Merino, who calmly slotted past Costa to give Spain a 1-0 win.