Graham HunterJan 6, 2026, 04:06 AM ETCloseGraham Hunter is a Barcelona-based freelance writer for ESPN.com who specializes in La Liga and the Spanish national team.Follow on X
Moreno: Barcelona owe Espanyol win to ‘world class’ Joan García (1:50)Ale Moreno hails the performance of Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García in their 2-0 win over Espanyol in LaLiga. (1:50)
The first silverware of the Spanish domestic season will be won this week, but the Spanish Supercopa will also turn the spotlight toward the epic battle to be Spain’s No.1 goalkeeper when the men’s World Cup starts in five months. And no, Arsenal fans: Even though Mikel Arteta’s team are shaping up as potential Premier League and Champions League winners thanks to an excellent season from David Raya, he’s not even in this argument.
The backstory is that the only goalkeeper in Spanish history to have lifted more international trophies than Unai Simón is Iker Casillas, who was between the sticks the last time Spain won the men’s World Cup, back in 2010. Simón, son of a police officer, possesses a massive mentality. He’s capable of remaining supernaturally calm under pressure, rising to the occasion; he’s also big in one-on-one moments when he can see the whites of a striker’s eyes because they’re so close.
He’s a proven trophy-winner, but like Casillas, the guy who thought of himself as a cat with nine lives, this is not a metronomic, methodical, error-free superstar.
Speaking frankly, I’m a confirmed Unai Simón fan. To me, he embodies that “right stuff” that makes winners and forges team spirit — he’s up for the big moment. But right now, he’s helping make García look like a big, and credible, challenger.
It’s an expression to indicate that when Simón comes for a cross, smothers a routine shot, or goes to catch a header, there’s often a second or two when he’s left juggling that cross like a basketball player fighting for a rebound under the hoop, or when the ball will pop out half a yard in front of him before he grabs it again. As luck would have it, this past weekend gave us a lovely foretaste of what’s to come on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia.
Simón was beaten by a roaring long-distance free-kick at which, frankly, he flapped. It looked spectacular, and it brought the Osasuna fans to their feet to the sound of a huge, guttural roar, but it was another goal where the 28-year-old left his fingerprints at the scene of the crime. But not on the ball.
By contrast, the young pretender, García, was almost beatified on Saturday when he gave a player of the match performance, inspiring Barcelona to a 2-0 derby win against their improving, pungent and muscular city rivals Espanyol.
Stay with me here: Espanyol break from the halfway line and big, powerful center forward Roberto Fernandez is right through on goal. His shot brings an instinctive save from our protagonist, but the ball breaks loose.
García can see that Milla is racing onto the chance; García also knows that even though he’s sprung up and is reacting in split seconds, he’s not going to get there first. So he launches a huge push in the back of his own defender, Gerard Martín, so that the center back goes flying down toward the point at which Milla is going to shoot. The end result? Martín blocks the Espanyol man’s almost-certain goal, and takes a nasty, bruising thud in the ribcage as a result.
On first viewing, it looks like Milla might be in danger of receiving a red card. The second view shows that García has been fiendishly clever, utterly ruthless and that his subsequent “are you alright mate” enquires to his injured teammate — Martín’s upper torso will have shown all the colours of the rainbow this morning — were just window dressing.
Hansi Flick said: “I’m so grateful to Joan. He’s one of the best keepers in the world — he’ll never forget how he played here tonight.” Lamine Yamal used social media to post: ‘Mother of God, what a goalkeeper!’
Well, Spain’s coach Luis De La Fuente, who’s taken La Roja to the status of World Cup favourites thanks to winning the 2023 Nations League, Euro 2024 and runners-up positions in the 2025 Nations League and 2021 Olympics, has simply refused to even open the doors of the national squad to García. Never mind the starting XI — not even a place in recent squads!
Spain’s next date is, if the civil war between Argentina’s players and their association is resolved, will be against the World Champions in March: the so-called Finalissima. Opportunity beckoning for García, then?
When he was interviewed recently, De La Fuente was asked: “Your goalkeepers for the World Cup are Unai, David Raya, and Remiro — the guys who secured qualification … right?” His answer: “We have five or six of the best goalkeepers in the world. Right now, we’re focusing on Unai, Raya, and Remiro, but we’ll see what happens between now and June.”
Anyone who knows the Spain coach understands that it’ll take something cataclysmic from Simón to be dropped. Last summer, the Basque keeper told me: “what really defines Luis De La Fuente is his ability to build a strong group. I believe that with national teams, especially during long camps of around 40 days like at the World Cup, you have to create a healthy environment. And I think he handles that very well.
“Luis’s true strength is bringing the group together and creating unity, and to make us feel the same way with the national team as we would at any club.”
An atmosphere that includes both loyalty and ruthlessness. De La Fuente will be there in Saudi Arabia gathering more evidence watching these two fabulous talents go head-to-head, but which side of his character will the Spain coach eventually show: loyalty, or ruthlessness?
Simón’s status as “guaranteed starter when fit” in 2025 wasn’t a surprise: Spain won World Cup qualifying Group E without conceding in their first five matches. But the debate will rage now — Diario AS said of García, “Barcelona have found their Courtois,” because the Barça man has saved 79% of the on-target shots he’s faced this season in LaLiga. He’s building consistency on top of his excellence, too: last season, he made the most saves in LaLiga (146) and was second in the top five European leagues.
Moreno: Barcelona owe Espanyol win to ‘world class’ Joan García (1:50)Ale Moreno hails the performance of Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García in their 2-0 win over Espanyol in LaLiga. (1:50)
Ale Moreno hails the performance of Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García in their 2-0 win over Espanyol in LaLiga. (1:50)
CloseGraham Hunter is a Barcelona-based freelance writer for ESPN.com who specializes in La Liga and the Spanish national team.Follow on X
The contenders are the incumbent, Athletic Club’s Unai Simón — who’s suffering a season plagued with microerrors — and Barcelona’s uncapped 24-year-old Joan García who, right now, is playing a bit like that robot-keeper you see in video clips, stopping shots from the world’s greatest professionals in mind-boggling fashion.
And the great thing, for those who like what Spanish football calls “morbo” — when we watch a sporting event with extra relish, hoping for the morbid enjoyment of seeing one contestant suffer a slap in the face — is that Wednesday night pits Simón and García head-to-head as Athletic face Barcelona in the first Supercopa semifinal.
It’s ruthless, inventive, Machiavellian, dangerous — and successful, all at the same time.
Joan García used his own teammate Gerard Martín to make the save 💀 pic.twitter.com/EEhYrjePwS