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Who is Mikel Oyarzabal? Meet Spain's under-hyped World Cup hero who took penalty kick instead of Lamine Yamal originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
World Cup fans have grown used to seeing Mikel Oyarzabal celebrate a goal for Spain. The forward has done so five times during the 2026 World Cup, and he has been an integral piece of La Roja's success.
The longtime Real Sociedad player has not played a plethora of high-stakes European soccer compared to his peers who play for Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester City, but he has consistently risen to high levels for his country. However, Oyarzabal receives minimal props due to many players on his national team playing for bigger clubs that garner more global attention.
Despite this, Oyarzabal has just put his head down and continued his success for La Roja. Along with playing for Spain during their 2024 Euro-winning campaign, he's also led the country to only their second appearance in a World Cup final and first since they emerged victorious in 2010.
Here's the rundown on Oyarzabal, including his play on the international and club levels.
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Who is Mikel Oyarzabal?
Oyarzabal is a 29-year-old forward who was born in Eibar, Spain. He first debuted for Spain's national team in 2016 and earned a solidified role for the team in 2019. On the club soccer level, he has been playing for Real Sociedad in club soccer since 2015.
Native to Spain, Oyarzabal has 27 career international goals along with 100 goals for Real Sociedad. He spent time playing for hometown club SD Eibar as a teenager before landing with Real Sociedad, which is also based in northern Spain. Besides his brief loan spell with Eibar to begin his career, he has famously remained at Sociedad throughout his career.
On July 14, against France in the 2026 World Cup semifinal, Oyarzabal passed Fernando Hierro for sixth on Spain's all-time leading scorers list with 30 goals.
MIKEL OYARZABAL IS HAVING A SENSATIONAL SEASON!
With club and country this season:
54 appearances
32 goals
️ 9 assists
41 goal contributions
Oyarzabal has also moved past Fernando Hierro to become the sixth-highest scorer in Spain’s history, reaching 30… pic.twitter.com/ciOOI4t6Gb
— Pitch Wire (@wire_pitch) July 14, 2026
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Mikel Oyarzabal World Cup highlights
Oyarzabal is having himself a phenomenal tournament. The Spanish player is perhaps one of the most underhyped players of the tournament, as he has quietly notched five goals to rank 7th across the World Cup field.
Here are some of Oyarzabal's best highlights from this summer's tournament:
In the 22nd minute of Spain's semifinal match against France, Lamine Yamal was tripped by Lucas Digne inside the French box. Referee Ivan Barton wasted no time before pointing towards the penalty spot. Here is the Spanish forward's flawless effort that went directly into the top right corner:
Oyarzabal added two more goals to his tournament tally in a convincing 3-0 win over Austria in the Round of 32.
During Spain's second match of the World Cup, they needed to prove the doubters wrong after being held in a scoreless draw to Cape Verde, who was playing in their first World Cup match. Who else but Oyarzabal rose to the occasion to score not once, but twice against Saudi Arabia en route to a dominant 4-0 victory.
Mikel Oyarzabal club team
During the club season, Oyarzabal plays for Real Sociedad in the Spanish La Liga. He first joined the Sociedad senior team in October 2015.
In 437 appearances across all competitions, Oyarzabal has scored 133 goals, according to FotMob.
Mikel Oyarzabal age
Oyarzabal is 29 years old, according to Transfermarkt. He was born on April 22, 1997, in Eibar, Spain.
He began his Real Sociedad senior team career when he was only 18 years old in 2015.
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