The Spanish national team received a strong warning regarding the presence of a clear weakness in the squad, ahead of the anticipated clash with France in the semi-final of the 2026 World Cup.
European football expert Kevin Hatchard pointed out that although Unai Simon’s net, Spain’s goalkeeper, has only been breached once in the World Cup so far, the situation is not reassuring.
Unai Simon, Spain’s “solid” wall in the World Cup
The Spanish national team’s coaching staff place the duo of goalkeepers Juan García, Spanish league champion with Barcelona, and David Raya, English league champion with Arsenal, behind Simon in terms of first-choice options.
Simon started in all six of “La Roja’s” matches in the World Cup and did not concede a goal until the quarter-final that ended with a 2-1 victory over Belgium.
But before Charles De Ketelaere scored with a header from Timothy Castagne’s cross, Simon had already broken Walter Zenga’s World Cup record of 517 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal.
The 29-year-old’s run, which began during the round-of-16 match against Morocco in Qatar four years ago, extended to a total of 650 minutes.
However, Hatchard identified Unai Simon by name as a weakness in the Spanish team during his latest comments, ahead of their decisive semi-final clash with France on Tuesday.
Hatchard said on talkSPORT radio: “I think it’s very boring, but knowing Didier Deschamps, France’s coach, he will take each match as it comes, and that’s why he will study Spain in detail because it is the most dangerous opponent.”
He added: “If you look at France and Spain, you might say they have been the two smoothest teams in the World Cup so far, so one might think that the team that qualifies from the semi-final is the favourite to win the title.”
He continued: “But I don’t think the gap between them is big; I think they are the favourites, but the level of the remaining four teams is very high in my opinion, and every team has outstanding players.”
He went on: “I think France and Spain — Spain will look at it and think, we beat this French team in the semi-final of Euro 2024 on our way to winning it, so they will have that confidence.”
Kevin Hatchard confirmed: “I feel they are a team that has played quite cohesively, but they have dominated a lot of matches, and Portugal were a bit slow in playing, to be honest, because it then became a matter of decisive moments.”
He noted: “I mean, if Bruno Fernandes’ shot hadn’t hit the side netting and gone into the goal instead, you would suddenly be in very big trouble.”
He indicated in his remarks: “Spain is the only team to reach the semi-finals without a contender for the Golden Boot, as its top scorer Mikel Oyarzabal has four goals.”
He continued: “Lamine Yamal has not scored any goals in the World Cup so far, while Arsenal player Mikel Merino scored two late goals to lead his team to victory over Portugal and Belgium respectively.”
Warning to the Spanish national team about a dangerous weakness
Hatchard believes that Simon poses a risk to the Spanish national team’s chances in the World Cup competition, ahead of the match against Kylian Mbappé and his teammates.
He explained, saying: “So I think the attacking side of the game still needs more improvement, but they looked cohesive.”
He added: “I’ll tell you that I think the Spanish players don’t look cohesive because of goalkeeper Simon; he would definitely terrify me if I were a Spain fan.”
He pointed out: “I think he showed some good glimpses against Belgium, one of them when he lost the ball and Kevin De Bruyne couldn’t shoot the ball away from the goal.”
He went on: “As for the other moment when he rushed out, he was not close to the ball at all, and they were unable to exploit it optimally.”
He stressed: “They somehow tried to pass the ball in front of the goal, and now, I know Arsenal fans will look at it and wonder, why isn’t David Raya in the team?”
He added in the same context: “Barcelona fans will also look at it and wonder: where is Juan García? Because he has been brilliant with them this season.”
He concluded: “But what that does is confirm the approach of coach Luis de la Fuente, because he knows these players from the youth stages; he has known some of them for a very long time, and he has enjoyed very strong mutual trust.”
