Spain star sets unwanted 60-year World Cup record vs Cabo Verde | OneFootball

Spanish national team star Mikel Oyarzabal has on Monday etched his name into the history books of the World Cup. Unfortunately for the Real Sociedad man, though, this comes for altogether less than positive reasons.

Spain are of course currently locked in action on the international stage, in their opening fixture at the 2026 World Cup.

Luis de la Fuente’s troops have been pitted against African minnows Cabo Verde in the matchup, eyeing a positive start to their campaign in North America.

The aforementioned Mikel Oyarzabal was afforded a starting berth for the evening, fresh off 14 goals in his last 17 international appearances.

But safe to say, the 29-year-old’s outing did not exactly get off to a great start…

As revealed by statisticians Opta:

‘Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal is the first player on record since 1966 to play the first 30 minutes of a FIFA World Cup match without touching the ball once.’

Conor Laird – GSFN