​Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain’s selfless striker, is having the final word in World Cup of superstars originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The Golden Boot standings at this World Cup have long since tripped off the tongue.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKylian 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.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDe 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.2026 WORLD CUP HQ:Latest World Cup news | Full World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup ticketsOyarzabal 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.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOyarzabal 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 t