Oyarzabal to spearhead Spain at World Cup as Remiro misses out | OneFootball

Mikel Oyarzabal will lead Spain's attack at the World Cup after Luis de la Fuente named his 26-man squad for the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Álex Remiro has been omitted.

According to Diario Vasco, the Real Sociedad captain is set for his first World Cup and is the club's only representative. Since De la Fuente took over four years ago, Oyarzabal has been, and will remain, Spain's attacking focal point.

Under De la Fuente, Oyarzabal has scored 18 goals, the most by any Spain player under him. His brace against Serbia in March took him to 24 in 52 caps, making him ninth on Spain's all-time list.

He scored the goal that returned Spain to the top of European football on 14 July 2024 in Berlin against England. He also left his mark in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic final and in the Nations League finals of 2021 and 2025.

Spain are in Group H with Cabo Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. They open against the African side on 15 June at 18.00 hours, then face the Middle Eastern team six days later at the same time, before Uruguay on 27 June at 2.00 hours, likely the sternest of the three.

Remiro's omission follows debate over the goalkeeping spots. Joan García's last two seasons, one at Espanyol and the most recent at Barcelona, prompted De la Fuente to revisit his options. He has largely kept the core that made Spain European champions in 2024, with some new faces.

Source: Diario Vasco