Spain are just one match away from winning the 2026 World Cup, but Luis de la Fuente's team have already made history ahead of the final thanks to an impressive defensive record.
"La Roja" have scored 13 goals and conceded just one in seven matches, keeping six clean sheets. In the semi-final against France, the Spaniards won 2-0 and produced one of the most dominant defensive performances, allowing their opponents to create just 0.3 expected goals (xG), the lowest ever recorded for France in a World Cup since 1966.
Spain kept a clean sheet in the group stage against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay, while keeping a clean sheet against Austria and Portugal. The only goal they have conceded so far came in the quarter-finals, when Charles De Ketelaere scored for Belgium.
With this performance, Spain became only the fifth national team in history to reach the World Cup final after conceding only one goal along the way. Previously, Italy (2006), Germany (2002), the Netherlands (1974) and England (1966) had achieved this.
De la Fuente's team even has an advantage over Italy in 2006. Due to the new tournament format with 48 national teams, Spain has played seven matches before the final, one more than the Italians, while maintaining almost the same defensive standard.
"La Roja" has also set other historical records. They recorded a 649-minute clean sheet, the longest in World Cup history, and became the first national team to keep six clean sheets in a single tournament.
Spain are now just 90 minutes away from another record. If they win the final without conceding a goal, they will become the first team in World Cup history to win the tournament without conceding a single goal, a feat that would put them among the greatest teams football has ever seen.
