The best defences of the 2026 World Cup: Spain, a wall on the way to the title
Spain did not win the 2026 World Cup on attacking football alone: they did it, above all, on solidity. La Roja conceded a single goal in eight matches and kept seven clean sheets, by far the best defence of the tournament. Behind them come Colombia (four shut-outs and a single goal conceded) and Mexico. In all, the championship produced 55 clean sheets. We review who defended best.
The 2026 World Cup will be remembered for Spain's title, and much of that triumph is explained at the back. Luis de la Fuente's Roja built their road to glory on an impregnable defence: in eight matches they conceded a single goal —Belgium's in the quarters— and kept a clean sheet on seven occasions, including the semi-final against France and the final against Argentina. No other nation came close to those numbers.
With Unai Simón solid in goal and a back line led by Aymeric Laporte and the teenage Pau Cubarsí, Spain combined organisation, a high press to win the ball far from their area and a concentration that barely slipped. It was, by some distance, the best defence of the tournament, and probably the strongest argument for their second star.
Behind the champions, the ranking rewards two sides that did not go as far but also kept things tight: Colombia posted four clean sheets and conceded just one goal before going out, and Mexico added four shut-outs of their own. They show that defensive solidity was not the preserve of the big names.
The overall figure confirms a World Cup balanced between attack and defence: there were 55 clean sheets in 104 matches. Tellingly, some sides who went far suffered much more at the back —France, fourth, conceded ten goals, six of them in the wild third-place play-off against England. You can check the full ranking of the best defences and the tournament's overall standings on our data pages.