Spain arrives at the 2026 FIFA World Cup hoping to head home as champions.
One key aspect to any tournament victory is goalkeeping, and Spain has a trio of good ones: Unai Simon, David Raya and Joan Garcia.
Only one can start, though, and only on rare occasions do managers do goalie rotation between matches.
The player chosen to start early is usually the one that starts late, too.
Spain gets its action underway Monday against Cape Verde, and the first goalie choice has been made.
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Who is Spain's goalie?
Unai Simon is starting in goal for Spain.
He's the starting keeper in La Liga for Athletic Bilbao.
He gets the choice over Arsenal keeper David Raya, who was champion of the English Premier League, and Joan Garcia, who won La Liga with Barcelona.
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Why is Unai Simon starting over David Raya and Joan Garcia?
Simon has started regularly under coach Luis de la Fuente.
Raya and Garcia made this a tough choice by winning their league championships.
For his part, Raya has said the right things about this.
“Spain is in very good hands no matter who gets to play,” Raya said before the tournament, via the Associated Press. “I think Unai Simón, since his debut, has raised the level of the goalkeeping position. We won the Nations League and the European Championship with him. And I think he’s a great goalkeeper who has given us these titles as the starter.”
It's up to Simon to make this look like the right choice.
If he has any blunders, the noise will heat up about the goalies who are on the bench.
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