All Eyes on Nico and Yamal, but Oyarzabal Is the Endgame

Spain boasts a talented pool of players capable of striking from any distance. Lamine Yamal is the main player on the field for the national team, but Mikel Oyarzabal has been making his mark on finals on multiple occasions.

The UEFA Nations League 2025 final between Spain and Portugal has several parallel narratives, aside from being two of the most powerful national teams in the world today competing for the title. 

Lamine Yamal is in the running for the Ballon d'Or; Cristiano Ronaldo is 40 years old, and he is still scoring in every game; Both teams have overcome the ghosts of their past to reach the final. The match is a blockbuster in every sense of the word.

Portugal has one of the greatest of all time (Cristiano Ronaldo), with a young core to play for many years to come. Spain has both young and well-experienced players with the national team, and one of the most important pieces for manager Luis de la Fuente is Mikel Oyarzabal.

Sometimes, Oyarzabal's name can get lost between Yamal, Williams and Pedri, but he is just as clutch as his teammates. Oyarzabal has played two major finals with Spain, and just when they thought nothing else could be done, the captain of Real Sociedad scored.

In 2021, he scored in the UEFA Nations League final against France to put Spain back in the game. Later, Kylian Mbappé scored the winning goal in the 80th-minute mark to give France its first UNL title.

In the Euro final in 2024, Spain was having a hard time against England, and by the 86th-minute mark with the game tied at 1-1, the striker scored one of the most important goals in the national team's history - Spain last won the Euro in 2012, two years after winning the World Cup.