As the world number one and reigning European champions in 2024, Spain go into the 2026 World Cup as one of the hot favourites. Manager Luis de la Fuente has built an impressive new generation of players who comfortably won the European Championship title in 2024. Group H, featuring Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde, is manageable – but the focus is clearly on the World Cup title.

Manager Luis de la Fuente has named three goalkeepers for La Roja: Unai Simón, David Raya and Joan García. Spain are the reigning European champions and are among the top favourites for the title. In Group H, they face Cape Verde, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. On paper, the trio of goalkeepers is the most talented in the entire tournament – and the question of who should start in goal is the most hotly debated among Spanish football fans.

Simón is de la Fuente’s first choice, despite a difficult club season that has sparked intense debate in Spain. Athletic Bilbao have conceded 54 goals in 34 La Liga matches this season, with Simón keeping just seven clean sheets. Both figures are the lowest of the trio.

This does not affect his status with the national team manager: Simón was a regular at the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024, where he played in almost every match of the European Championship. He is a complete modern goalkeeper – athletic, strong in the game, with excellent build-up play and the ability to shape key moments in major tournaments. In 2023/24, he won the Zamora Trophy as La Liga’s best goalkeeper. His contract with Athletic runs until 2029, with no release clause – a symbolic gesture of loyalty to the club he loves. De la Fuente trusts him. Whether that trust is justified remains to be seen in the tournament.

Raya is statistically the most impressive goalkeeper in the entire tournament. This Premier League season, he has played in 37 league matches, keeping 19 clean sheets – thereby equalling David Seaman’s Arsenal club record. Added to that are nine Champions League clean sheets in 13 matches, as Arsenal progressed to the final against PSG. Two consecutive Premier League Golden Gloves speak for themselves. His career path has been unusual: the Barça academy, then Blackburn Rovers in England, Brentford, and Arsenal since 2023. He made his international debut as recently as 2022 – and with around 25 caps to his name, he has now firmly established himself in the national team.

Raya is the best goalkeeper in the world this season – and yet he is number two behind Simón. In Spain, this decision is keeping the specialist press on tenterhooks.

García is 25 years old and has had one of the most remarkable goalkeeping careers in Europe this season. After years at Espanyol – where he was La Liga’s busiest goalkeeper in the 2024/25 season with 146 saves and saved the club’s season – he moved to FC Barcelona in the summer of 2025 after an exit clause was activated. There, he immediately took over the starting spot: in 30 La Liga appearances, he conceded just 21 goals and kept 15 clean sheets – the fewest goals conceded per game of any goalkeeper in the Spanish top flight. With a FotMob season rating of 7.73, he is one of the highest-rated goalkeepers in Europe this season. He won the league title and the Supercopa with Barcelona – and made his first senior international appearance as late as March 2026.