Unai Simon Saves Two Penalties As Spain Beat Croatia In UEFA Nations League Final Shootout

Goalkeeper Unai Simon made two saves in a penalty shootout as Spain beat Croatia to win the 2023 UEFA Nations League final.

Croatia 0-0 Spain (4-5 on penalties)

Spain beat Croatia on penalty kicks to win the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League.

The previous three matches between these teams had witnessed 19 goals but Sunday's final in Rotterdam ended 0-0 after 120 minutes of battle.

Goalkeeper Unai Simon then made himself a hero by saving spot-kicks from Lovro Majer and Bruno Petkovic.

Players from the Spain national team pictured celebrating after beating Croatia in a penalty shootout to win the 2023 UEFA Nations League final :: IMAGO/Pro Shots

Aymeric Laporte missed the chance to score the winning penalty when he hit the crossbar, but Dani Carvajal made no mistake moments later with a cool panenka.

Joselu, Rodri, Marco Asensio and Mikel Merino had all earlier converted their penalties for Spain.

Nikola Vlasic, Marcelo Brozovic, Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic found the net for Croatia.

Spain had lost three of their previous four penalty shootouts, while this was Croatia's first defeat in five shootouts.

A PANENKA TO WIN IT! 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/9SRKTwvPAA

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 18, 2023

Croatia have still never won a major tournament, despite strong performances at each of the last two FIFA World Cups - finishing second at Russia 2018 and then third at Qatar 2022.

Spain, who lost 2-1 to France in the 2021 Nations League final, have now won five major titles - three European Championships, one World Cup and one Nations League crown.

Croatia had qualified for Sunday's final by beating tournament hosts Holland 4-2 four days earlier. Meanwhile, Spain had won 2-1 against Italy in the other semi-final.

This was the third edition of the UEFA Nations League. Portugal won the first in 2019.