Barcelona star Pedri shines as Spain dominate Peru in final World Cup 2026 warm-up
Spain are ready for World Cup 2026 as La Roja cruised past Peru in Puebla, Mexico in their final warm-up match before next week’s opener against Cape Verde. The 3-1 scoreline does not tell the story of Spain’s dominance as Luis de la Fuente’s side, led by a sublime performance from Barcelona superstar Pedri, were in full control for the whole night and looked very sharp in their final test before the biggest party of the summer.
Spain made a perfect start with a goal just 90 seconds into the action, thanks to a great assist from Pau Cubarsí and an even better finish from Mikel Oyarzabal, who fired a rocket from outside the box to put La Roja ahead. Spain were in full control after the opener, dominating the game with sharp passing and movement in the attacking half, finding plenty of space inside the Peruvian defensive.
Ferran Torres and Pedri were the standout performers of the first period, and they combined for Spain’s second goal as The Shark’s great cross was finished by The Wizard, who scored an excellent goal on the half-volley after making a perfectly timed run into the box. Peru had more of an attacking edge in the final minutes of the half but couldn’t offer a real threat, and Spain had a comfortable two-goal lead at the break.
Luis de la Fuente made four changes at halftime as David Raya, Eric Garcia, Dani Olmo and Yeremy Pino replaced Unai Simón, Aymeric Laporte, Fabián Ruiz and Oyarzabal. Spain continued to control the game to start the second half and quickly added a third in somewhat bizarre fashion when Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese deflected a cross from Pino onto his own net for a strange own goal, and La Roja tripled their lead.
Pedri’s sublime night lasted an hour as he was replaced by Mikel Merion as part of another quadruple change by De La Fuente, with Marc Pubill, Martín Zubimendi and Gavi also coming on in place of Cubarsí, Rodri and Álex Baena. Gavi came on as left winger and looked pretty comfortable, almost recording an assist with a great run in behind his defender and a low cross that Ferran couldn’t tap into the net.
Peru scored shortly after Ferran’s miss, as a through ball from the left wing went past Eric and found Jairo Vélez inside the box for a nice finish to give the South Americans a reason to celebrate on a tough night. De La Fuente then made his final three subs after the second half cooling break, with Pedro Porro, Alejandro Grimaldo and Borja Iglesias replacing Marcos Llorente, Marc Cucurella and Ferran to finish the game with a whole new XI that was still very strong.
Spain had several good moments at the end but couldn’t find a fourth goal, and the final whistle came to finish their World Cup preparations with a strong win. The opener against Cape Verde is a week away, and on tonight’s evidence the European champions look quite ready.
