Unai Simon has climbed to the top of the world football, winning Yashin trophy at the 2026 Golden Ball ceremony.
Spain’s goalkeeper, the world champion and winner of the World Cup’s best goalkeeper award, has experienced a remarkable rise over the years.
However, one of the most special moments of his career is tied to Kosovo, when Besar Halimi punished him with a spectacular long-term blow. That match held five years ago was closed 3-1 to Spain. Kosovo and Spain have met twice, in qualifications for the World Championships and Spain had won two matches, while the Dardans scored only once, that goal of Halim, while accepting five Sosh.
Today, Simon is praised as the best in the world, while Halimi has returned to Kosovo to wear the Light Fannel, two diametrically opposite directions.
From a Forgotten Error to World Soccer Top
In football, a player’s career is built through large presentations, trophies and moments left in fans’ memory. But for gatekeepers, there is another side of this journey – mistakes, which often remain as memorable as expectations.
Unnai Simon well knows this reality. The Spanish goalie, born on 11 June 1997 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, has become one of the main figures of the Spanish National and the Athletic Bilbao Club.
He debuted with the first Athletic team in August 2018, while the Spanish National debuted on November 11, 2020.
Unai Simon during the 2026 World Cup
Since then, Simon has become one of the most important names of the new Spanish football generation. He was part of the team that won the European Championship and the League of Nations as he peaked in 2026 when Spain was proclaimed world champion. In this tournament, the Spanish goalkeeper also stood out individually, winning the prize for the world’s best goalkeeper, after an impressive 650 – minute series without a goal.
On Monday, October 26th, another major assessment of his career came. Simón won the Yashin trophy at the 2026 Golden Ball ceremony, announcing his year’s best goalkeeper from the magazine France Football. This award puts it among the world’s most esteemed goalkeepers and gives another seal an extraordinary year.
Among all these successes, however, there is also an episode that Kosovo fans happily remember — Besar Halim’s goal in the match held in Seville on 31 March 2021.
Simon, best at the 2026 World Cup.
Asar Hallim’s goal that punished Simon
Kosovo and Spain faced with qualifications for the 2022 World Cup, in a match where locals won 3-1. The Spaniards had created two goals in the first part, thanks to Danny Olmo’s realisations in the 34th minute and Ferran Torres only two minutes later.
In the second part, Kosovo tried to react, and its most beautiful moment came in the 70th minute. Simon, who is known as the gatekeeper who plays well with his feet, went out of the gate to intervene and help his team build the game, but lost control of the ball. Besar Halimi reacted quickly, took the ball and, without long thought, struck from the distance, sending it into the net.
The moment when Besar Halimi took over the Unai Simon ball
It was a spectacular goal, which gave Kosovo hope to restore emotions to the match. For a few moments, Halim’s goal changed the atmosphere of confrontation and led Darwinian footballers to believe that they could achieve something more against one of Europe’s strongest representatives.
But Kosovo’s joy lasted only five minutes. Gerald Moreno scored 3-1, and Spain maintained the supremacy to the end. However, Halim’s goal also received attention beyond Kosovo, as it was a special realisation of a goalkeeper known for the footplay and exits away from the goal line.
After the match, Halimi had talked about the emotions that the goal brought him and the hope he gave the fans.
I’m so glad I scored that goal, that I gave everyone some hope. But we are desperate because those five minutes after the goal we had more hopes, the midfielder was expressed.
The moment of Besar Halim hit by 40 meters
He had also acknowledged that Spain was at a very high level and that it was difficult for Kosovo to play against such an opponent.
Five and a half years later, the career of two protagonists has taken a different turn. Simón has been declared the best goalkeeper in the world, while Halimi has returned to Kosovo football, signing Gnjilan Light in September 2026.
For 31-year-old midfielder, this is a new chapter after experiences in several European championships and in Morocco.
Unai Simon, loyal to a single club
One of the most interesting features of Unnai Simón’s career is his connection to the Athletic Bilbaon. In a football where changes in clubs are frequent and major transfers are part of the everydayity, the Spanish goalkeeper has built his first-level career right at the Bask Club.
Simon joined the Athletic Academy in the 2011/12 season, when he was part of the U16 age group. After several years of development, he arrived at the first team and debuted in August 2018.
Since then, Athletic has become his home in professional football, while the goalkeeper has become one of the most important players in the team.
Unnai Simon, the heart of Athletic Bilbao
With his presentations, he has helped Athletic win trophies and return to among the competing Spanish football teams. In the 2023/24 season, Simon won the Zambia trophy, which is awarded to the goalkeeper at the best average in La League.
He was also one of the main figures in Spain’s successes, including the triumph of the European Championship and the League of Nations.
At the international level, his career has progressed at the same pace. From debut with Spain in 2020, he became the title in the grand tournaments, experienced European success, and is now part of the team that won the World Cup in 2026. The Yashin prize is another evidence of this journey.
Simon has continued to show that mistakes are part of the game, but they should not determine an entire career. The episode against Kosovo remains a special moment for the Darwinian fans and for Besar Halimi, but today the Spanish goalkeeper stands at the top of world football.
Simon, a life with a club.
He himself has expressed his strong connection to his club, saying he wants to become the best goalkeeper in the world playing for Athletics. With Yash’s trophy in hand, this wish has already been realized. /Telegraphy/