Spanish 2010 World Cup winning goalkeeper Iker Casillas included Iribar in his list of the ten greatest goalkeepers of all time, and described him as "one of the greatest keepers Spain has ever produced. He was a big presence in goal and had that ability to intimidate opponents. But it wasn't all about his size, which is useless on its own. He combined his physicality with terrific positioning." In Italy, the former was given the nickname "Zoff's twin", due to his goalkeeping ability, leadership and physical resemblance to Italian counterpart Dino Zoff. On 5 December 1976, before a game against Real Sociedad, Iribar and the opposing captain, Inaxio Kortabarria, carried out the "Ikurriña", the Basque flag, and placed it ceremonially on the centre-circle. This was the first public display of the flag since the death of Francisco Franco, but it was still illegal. He subsequently became involved in Basque local politics, and was a founding member of the independentist coalition Herri Batasuna.