Mikel Oyarzabal did not start a single knockout game at Euro 2024. He came off the bench in the final against England, replaced Álvaro Morata in the 68th minute, and scored the winner eighteen minutes later. That golden goal — his only strike of the tournament — clinched Spain's first major trophy in twelve years. It is the kind of moment that defines careers, and Oyarzabal seized it without hesitation. Former captain César Azpilicueta, who earned 18 caps for La Roja across two decades, says it is exactly the kind of readiness that makes Spain genuine contenders.
"In any tournament like this, you never know when the crucial moment can come for you to make the difference," Azpilicueta told reporters. "For Oyarzabal, that moment came when he came off the bench, and he was ready." The 29-year-old Real Sociedad forward has not stopped scoring since. Heading into this tournament, he had been directly involved in 19 goals across his last 13 international appearances — 13 goals and six assists — a rate bettered only by Norway's Erling Haaland among European players in that same window.
What makes Oyarzabal special, Azpilicueta explained, is not just his finishing but his versatility. Once a winger, he has evolved into a striker comfortable making diagonal runs behind defenders or dropping deeper to orchestrate play. When opposition defences tighten on Lamine Yamal, Oyarzabal drifts wide to exploit the spaces left behind, a movement intelligence that makes Spain's attack nearly impossible to neutralise. Against Saudi Arabia, he became only the second player since 1966 to be directly involved in three goals in the opening 25 minutes of a World Cup match — two goals and an assist in a devastating first-half performance.
But Spain's strength lies not in one man. During Euro 2024, head coach Luis de la Fuente used all 23 outfield players across seven matches. Ferran Torres, Álvaro Morata, and Celta Vigo's Borja Iglesias all offer different profiles — the latter a target-man who can occupy centre-backs against more defensive opponents. "I have heard people say that Spain are missing a really elite number nine," Azpilicueta said, "but with Oyarzabal, we have someone who we know can score the big goals, when it matters." The defence, meanwhile, has not conceded yet, anchored by Unai Simón and captain Rodri, whose physical dominance and vision connect defence to attack.
Spain enter this tournament with something rare in modern football: a squad where every player matters. Yamal may grab the headlines, but the deeper story is a team that believes — as Azpilicueta put it — that "everyone will have to be ready this time too." And when the moment comes, as it came for Oyarzabal in Berlin, someone always seems to be.