Oyarzabal Rises with Spain and Achieves an Exceptional Record in the World Cup

Mikel Oyarzabal led the Spanish national team to a big victory over Saudi Arabia with a 4-0 result, in the match that brought the two teams together in the second round of the group stage of the 2026 World Cup, after playing a decisive role in the first half hour of the match.

Oyarzabal contributed to three goals during the first 30 minutes, as he assisted the first goal scored by Lamine Yamal in the 11th minute, before adding the second goal in the 21st minute, then returned to score the third goal just three minutes later in the 24th minute, leading La Roja to an important victory in the tournament journey.

The statistics network 'Opta' mentioned that Oyarzabal achieved a remarkable transformation between Spain's first two matches in the World Cup, after becoming in the first round the first player in available records not to touch the ball at all during the first 30 minutes of a World Cup match.

In the second round, the Spanish forward completely turned the scene around, becoming only the third player since 1966 to contribute to scoring or assisting three goals during the first 30 minutes of a single World Cup match, in a statistic that reflects the significant impact he had against the Saudi national team.

This exceptional performance confirms Oyarzabal's strong return to the forefront, after transforming from a player absent from the course of play in the first match to one of the most prominent stars of the second round, directly contributing to the wide victory achieved by Spain.