Spain has two lucky charms ahead of the World Cup final

Any help is welcome in a World Cup final. Especially against Lionel Messi. Luis de la Fuente is a coach who believes more in hard work than superstition. Even so, there are two players whose numbers are impossible to ignore: Fabián Ruiz and Mikel Oyarzabal.

The Fabián Ruiz story

If he starts on Sunday, Fabián will make his 50th appearance for Spain. He has never lost any of those games (Spain’s penalty shootout defeat to Portugal in the 2025 Nations League final does not count as a loss in official unbeaten streaks) and is closing in on the record held by another player from Seville. Carlos Marchena went 56 consecutive games unbeaten with Spain, breaking a mark previously set by the legendary Garrincha. Fabián – who, incidentally, played alongside Messi at Paris Saint-Germain – now has that record within reach.

He will always remember this up-and-down World Cup. He began the tournament as a starter before being dropped to the bench against Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. De la Fuente reversed course, and it proved to be the right decision. Against Belgium, he restored Fabián to the base of midfield alongside Rodrigo, and Spain immediately looked more balanced. He then produced a magnificent performance against France in the semifinal.

Mikel Oyarzabal setting standards

Mikel Oyarzabal, now one of Spain’s three all-time leading World Cup scorers with five goals, level with Emilio Butragueño and David Villa, has developed a special relationship with finals. Even if he does not play as often as he would like for Real Sociedad, he almost always delivers on the biggest stage.

He scored the goal that gave Real Sociedad the delayed Copa del Rey final played during the pandemic against Athletic Club, and he found the net again this year in La Cartuja, where the Basque side lifted another trophy after a dramatic penalty shootout. With Spain, he has also been a man for the occasion. He scored in the Olympic final at the Tokyo Games, another tournament affected by the pandemic and played in Yokohama, before finding the net again in the 2021 Nations League final against France. Spain lost both of those games. In 2024, however, he erased those disappointments with his historic winning goal in Berlin, and last season he also opened the scoring in the Nations League final against Portugal, a game Spain eventually lost on penalties.

It has been an unforgettable year for Oyarzabal, who has firmly established himself as Spain’s undisputed No. 9 and is rapidly becoming one of the national team’s modern greats. He is the ideal striker for the way this team wants to play, combining relentless movement with ruthless finishing. He has scored 14 goals in 15 appearances for Spain this season, numbers reserved for the very best.

Born in April 1996 and 1997 respectively, Fabián and Oyarzabal have reached the peak years of their careers, alongside teammates such as Rodri, Marc Cucurella, Dani Olmo, Aymeric Laporte and, almost, Ferran Torres. No one ever knows if another chance will come around, but this feels like the opportunity they have been waiting for.

When that is the case, having a couple of lucky charms in the lineup certainly doesn’t hurt.

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