Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain's selfless striker, is having the final word in World Cup of superstars

The Golden Boot standings at this World Cup have long since tripped off the tongue.

Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi have eight apiece, one more than Erling Haaland. England superstars Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham have six apiece. It's a who's who of the most recognisable stars on the planet.

Nestled below them on five, alongside Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele, who he sent home on Tuesday along with Mbappe, is Spain forward Mikel Oyarzabal.

"You mentioned Mikel Oyarzabal: at last, at last, we're starting to recognise him in Spain. Madre mia! At last," Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente joked at a press conference earlier in the tournament. 

Oyarzabal has curiously made a career of remaining under the radar despite reliably standing tall in big moments. His nerveless penalty to set Spain on the way to a resounding 2-0 semifinal win over a completely nullified France in Dallas is the latest. 

De La Fuente has no doubt that he belongs among the company he keeps on the Golden Boot list, describing him as a "great among greats". If Oyarzabal adds a World Cup winners' medal to his Euro 2024 one from a couple of years ago, it will be hard to argue.

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Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain's selfless striker having the final word

Oyarzabal has played at Real Sociedad for his entire professional career, something that might explain his low global profile.

La Real are one of Spain's great historic clubs, but their back-to-back La Liga triumphs from 1980/81 and 1981/82 are their only league title successes, sitting alongside four Copas del Rey.

Oyarzabal made his Real Sociedad debut in 2015 and has scored 133 goals for the club, placing him second behind Jesus Maria Satrustegui on their all-time scoring list.

Oyarzabal plays loosely as a striker, but this was not always the case. He came through at La Real as a power, direct winger. He made his Spain debut playing as a wide attacker and was linked with a move to Manchester City in 2019, as Leroy Sane prepared to move to Bayern Munich, although this did not progress beyond paper talk.

Oyarzabal had already shown his versatility across attacking positions before the ACL injury in March 2022 that ruled him out of that year's World Cup, when Spain bowed out in the Round of 16. De La Fuente credits Oyarzabal's earlier career playing in different positions as part of the reason why he can play as centre-forward in such an intelligent manner, bringing star team-mates like Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo into play.

"Mikel is a very intelligent person, and you see that on the pitch. He's one of the best strikers going into space, between lines, dropping to the wing," he said, having been so delighted to have the opportunity to discuss his centre-forward. "He's played right wing, left wing, second striker and centre‑forward and always played well. Very few footballers have his ability to interpret the game.

"He has the humility and understanding to keep his feet on the ground, because this is a merry-go-round. He is an example to everyone and I'm more delighted with him by the day. People who understand football value him extremely highly. Unfortunately, there are others who don't see it, but the weight he has in the national team is brutal."

It's what makes Oyarzabal perfect for this Spain team, especially one without either of star wingers Lamine Yamal or Nico Williams at peak fitness. He's happy to drop deep, operating as a false nine, to give Spain total numerical superiority in central areas. Rodri and Fabian Ruiz would not have been able to drive France to distraction as they did without Oyarzabal's smart, selfless work.

By the same token, Oyarzabal's late conversion to being a central striker is something else that explains his lack of star profile. He has scored 18 goals in his past 20 internationals, the bulk of an overall haul of 30 across 60 caps.

Mikel Oyarzabal record in finals

Rest assured, whoever lines up against Spain in New Jersey will know all about what happens when Oyarzabal plays in senior finals.

He has played in five for club and country, scored in every one and has three winners' medals to show for it.

The two defeats have come in Nations League final showdowns against France and Portugal (on penalties). With the greatest respect to UEFA's secondary men's international competition, those are the ones you'd lose if you had the choice.

In April 2021, he scored the only goal of the delayed Copa de Rey final from the penalty spot as Real Sociedad beat bitter rivals Athletic Club to win a first major trophy for 34 years.

Oyarzabal was again flawless from the spot in the 2026 Copa del Rey final against Atletico Madrid, which finished 2-2 before La Real won on penalties. 

Those were moments to savour at club level, but the highlight of the 29-year-old's career to date surely came in July 2024, when he came off the bench to score the winner in a 2-1 victory over England in the Euro 2024 final. 

At Berlin's Olympiastadion, he replaced Alvaro Morata — a very fine striker who was hindered by high-profile misses on the big stage. That's not Oyarzabal, though. He is a man seemingly blessed with the clutch gene.

Mikel Oyarzabal penalty record

Many fans will have been surprised to see Oyarzabal stepping up to take penalties ahead of Lamine Yamal at the World Cup.

But this can be explained by a formidable penalty record across his senior career.

Including efforts for Real Sociedad and Spain, Oyarzabal has scored 53 penalties, excluding shootouts, and missed just six.

It's another facet of a remarkably complete forward, whose days of hiding in plain sight as one of the most important players for Europe's finest national team might finally be at an end.