Even the most lenient critic could concede that Spain’s performance at the 2022 World Cup was disappointing. A squad of such talent, led by a coach of Luis Enrique’s class, won just one of four games and were eliminated by Morocco in the first knockout round.
It was a tournament in which La Roja had almost complete ownership of the ball, yet found few solutions relative to that dominance. Though the record books state that they scored nine goals in four games, seven of them came in a win over Costa Rica in their opener – after that, they scored two goals in three games, despite averaging an astronomical 75% possession over those outings.
Spain, as is almost always the case, had great midfielders in 2022. They still guided plenty of play into their attackers, with Pedri and Rodri ranking first and third for most passes into the final third per 90 in that edition of the tournament. Over the course of that tournament, they had a field tilt of 83.5%, showing just how much of their games took place in the attacking third of the pitch.
But all too often, Spain couldn’t work meaningful openings after that midfield-forward connection had been made, the explanations for which are manifold.
One of those was the fact that Luis Enrique took just one recognised number nine: Álvaro Morata. Then, he opted to start Marco Asensio – a non-striker – at the head of the team in three of their four matches, including in their elimination against Morocco. Of course, Spain had won a major tournament playing without a striker a decade earlier at Euro 2012, but in Qatar, they enjoyed few of the pros of the approach and suffered from most of the cons. They were predictable, unable to threaten in behind, and short on dribbling ability in wide areas.
Although many critics in Spain were quick to place the blame on Luis Enrique, it was clear that La Roja’s final-third struggles weren’t entirely a coaching problem.
Fortunately for current boss Luis de la Fuente, those ailments have since gone away. The emergence of Mikel Oyarzabal; the middleman to Spain’s flying wingers and unlikely solution to Spain’s number nine issues, who is helping them look even sharper since dominating in Germany.
La Real’s Captain is in His Prime
Outside of Spain, Oyarzabal’s profile pales in comparison to the nation’s other stars. And yet, this summer, there will be few players pencilled into De la Fuente’s starting XI quicker than him; a 29-year-old who has never been to a World Cup before.
Even his detractors – Spain being a nation which is passionately opinionated on its footballers – cannot argue with his production at this point. After being used sparingly at international level between 2016 and 2022, Oyarzabal’s record while playing under De la Fuente is spectacular, posting 27 goal involvements in 32 appearances to date (19 goals, eight assists).
Sounds good in isolation, yet factor in his minutes played for more precision and stack him up against his peers, and we get something closer to exceptional.
Looking at all European players with 900+ minutes played at international level since Oyarzabal’s first game under De la Fuente (25 March 2023), his per-90 average for combined goals and assists (1.46) is the second highest in that time, only behind Erling Haaland (1.55).
Although his record under the current regime is outstanding in itself, the positive news on the eve of this World Cup is that Oyarzabal has hit the best form of his career since their Euro 2024 triumph. Morata was still Spain’s starting striker in that last major tournament but won’t go to the 2026 World Cup at all, with Oyarzabal, who only started one game in Germany, having fired himself right to the top of their striking hierarchy since.
Going into Spain’s tournament opener, he has been directly involved in 19 goals in his last 13 international appearances (13 goals, six assists). That’s more than every other European player in the same period bar – you guessed it – Haaland (22 in 12 games). And in this run of form, Oyarzabal is also on a remarkable streak of 12 consecutive starts with a goal or assist for Spain. The last time he started for his country and didn’t score or set up a goal was in October 2024.
Oyarzabal Can be Spain’s Finisher or Their Extra Midfielder
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Oyarzabal’s production is that his game doesn’t belong solely to the penalty area. Depending on the opponent and game plan, you’re as likely to see him playing as their ‘fourth midfielder’ as you are jockeying with centre-backs.
It is one of the reasons why De la Fuente has previously singled him out for his intelligence, in a squad where football IQ is already abundant.
With Oyarzabal as their striker, Spain have simply become more difficult to read for opponents. On one hand, he is a striker with over 150 career goals to his name; on the other, he can connect play with the quality of an attacking midfielder.
Now 29 years of age, his appreciation for when to move between those different roles is as effective as it has ever been: when to drop deep and pull centre-backs out of positions; when to make that sprint beyond the last line; when to not move at all and pin defenders. He has both the ability to involve himself in build-up play, and the understanding – as well as humility – to know when staying out of the way is what best serves the team. That presents a permanent dilemma for opposition centre-backs, who can never be sure what his next movement is going to be.
Here is Spain’s pass network map from the 2025 Nations League final – a game in which Oyarzabal was on the scoresheet from a finely-timed run between Portugal’s centre-backs to finish in the box.
The Real Sociedad man was right on time with that classic number-nine run. But for large swathes of the game, the problem for Portugal was that Oyarzabal was moving away from them in the other direction. By full-time, the average position of his touches was deeper than that of Pedri and Fabián Ruiz, and almost as deep as holding midfielder
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