Belgium ended Spain's tournament-record shutout streak in the World Cup quarterfinals on Friday, with Charles De Ketelaere scoring in the 41st minute to bring the score to 1-1.
De Ketelaere's goal, a header from Timothy Castagne's cross, was the first allowed by Spain in the current World Cup, snapping a streak that had reached 650 minutes. Spain's goalkeeper, Unai Simon, had not conceded a goal throughout the tournament until that point.
The streak began in the 2022 World Cup during a group stage match against Japan, which Spain lost 2-1. The run included six consecutive clean sheets in the current tournament, beginning with a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde and followed by four shutout victories en route to the quarterfinals.
Simon had previously broken the previous record of 517 consecutive scoreless minutes, set by Italy's Walter Zenga in 1990. Simon's streak had surpassed Zenga's mark during a 3-0 win over Austria in the knockout stage of the current tournament.
In the first half of the quarterfinal match against Belgium, Simon had faced only two shots on goal before De Ketelaere's equalizer.