Mikel Oyarzabal sets a surprising World Cup record that might never be beaten
Spain’s forward Mikel Oyarzabal has made a surprising record that he probably wishes he hadn’t.
On Monday afternoon, Euro 2024 champions Spain had a tough start to their World Cup journey, ending with a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde at Atlanta Stadium. Even though Spain was missing their star player Lamine Yamal for most of the game, they were still the clear favorites, especially since Cape Verde was playing in their first World Cup.
But Spain couldn’t score, and had to settle for a draw with a small African nation of just over half a million people. After the match, many Spanish fans pointed fingers at different players, shocked by what’s been one of the biggest surprises of the 2026 World Cup so far.
One telling stat shows just how tough it was for Spain as a whole: Oyarzabal, who started the game up front, didn’t touch the ball once for the first 30 minutes. According to Opta, he’s the first player since 1966 to have this happen in a World Cup game—a record that might last a long time.
This is even more surprising because Spain had about 70% possession in that first half-hour and finished the game with 74% possession. Oyarzabal did get the ball later and had five shots, with one on target, but couldn’t score.
Despite the rough game, Oyarzabal is still an important part of the team and is expected to start as Spain plays Saudi Arabia and Uruguay, two matches that could be crucial for their World Cup hopes.
But it’s not just Oyarzabal—Spain as a whole is continuing a worrying pattern that started back in December 2022. Since their last World Cup goal in a 2-1 loss to Japan almost four years ago, Spain has taken 49 shots and completed 2,500 passes without scoring.
While Spain made it to the knockout stages in the 2022 World Cup, they didn’t score in their round of 16 match against Morocco, which ended 0-0 before Morocco won 3-0 on penalties.