Spain punched their ticket to the World Cup final on Tuesday night in Houston, and as usual, Mikel Oyarzabal was the guy who made it happen. The Real Sociedad striker buried a penalty in the 22nd minute to put La Roja up 1-0 against France, and that was all they needed to hold off the tournament favorites.
But that spot kick wasn’t just another goal. It put Oyarzabal in some seriously rare air.
With his fifth strike of this World Cup, the 29-year-old pulled even with Emilio Butragueño (1986) and David Villa (2010) for the most goals by a Spanish player in a single edition of the tournament. He’s now the third guy in Spanish history to hit that number. And if Spain goes on to win it all, his name gets mentioned right alongside those legends.
Oyarzabal also crossed the 30-goal threshold for the national team in that moment. That puts him in a club with Villa, Fernando Torres, Álvaro Morata, Raúl, and David Silva. Not bad for a guy who started this tournament as a question mark at center forward.
Luis de la Fuente has stuck with Oyarzabal as his leading man up top all summer, and the decision keeps paying off. He’s not the flashiest forward in the world — he doesn’t have Kylian Mbappé’s speed or the flair of some other stars — but he’s got this knack for being in the right place at the right time. And from the penalty spot, he’s ice cold.
France came into this match as the heavy favorite. Most analysts had them pegged as the team to beat, and they had the deeper roster on paper. But Spain’s possession game smothered them in the first half, and Oyarzabal’s goal held up through a nervy second half where Les Bleus pushed hard for an equalizer. Unai Simón made a few big saves, the backline held firm, and now Spain is one win away from lifting the trophy.
Oyarzabal’s run of form this summer has been a quiet kind of dominant. He’s not making headlines with flashy dribbles or long-range screamers. He’s just scoring when it matters, over and over. Five goals in six games will do that for your reputation.
Next up for Spain is the final, where they’ll face either Argentina or Brazil. If Oyarzabal scores there, he won’t just be sharing records with Butragueño and Villa. He’ll have one they don’t.
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