Peru 1-3 Spain: La Roja wrap up World Cup preparations with a win | OneFootball

Spain claimed a comfortable 3-1 win against Peru in their final friendly fixture ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, thanks to goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedri.

Luis de la Fuente’s men roared into the lead inside two minutes at the Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Mexico, with Barcelona midfielder Pedri adding a second goal from close range before the break.

La Roja extended their lead in the second half thanks to a calamitous own goal from Peru’s Pedro Gallese, although they were able to clinch a late consolation goal through Jairo Velez.

With their 2026 FIFA World Cup preparations now complete, Spain – who are widely viewed as one of the favourites to win this summer’s tournament – turn their attention to facing Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Group H.

As it happened

After being held to a 1-1 draw by Iraq in their final friendly on home soil ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Luis de la Fuente named a stronger side to face Peru in Puebla, Mexico.

Barring a few absentees – including Lamine Yamal – who are still recovering from injury, it was arguably a full-strength Spain side and they quickly showed just how lethal they can be in attack when Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring inside two minutes.

Pau Cubarsi’s incisive assist from inside the centre circle allowed the Real Sociedad forward to drive a fierce strike from the edge of the box beyond the Peruvian goalkeeper. He has now scored in each of his last six international appearances, and looks set to play a crucial role for La Roja at this summer’s tournament.

Peru, ranked 51st in the world according to the latest FIFA rankings, came close to conceding once again when Pedri picked out his Barcelona teammate Ferran Torres with a well-weighted ball over the top of the defence. The forward mis-hit his volley, though, and was spared his blushes by the offside flag.

But arguably the worst miss of the match came in the 19th minute when Oyarzabal, keen to score his second of the evening, blasted Pedri’s pinpoint cross from the left flank over the crossbar from close range.

The 29-year-old squandered another chance just before the half-hour mark, with Fabio Gruber beating him to the ball and denying him the chance to tap Fabian Ruiz’s teasing ball across the face of goal into the net.

Spain did eventually find a second goal though when Pedri tucked home from five yards out, meeting Ferran Torres’ cutback from the byline and despatching a first-time effort past Pedro Gallese with aplomb.

Peru came just inches away from halving the deficit before the break when Jairo Velez sent a well-worked ball through for Jhonny Vidales, who managed to get the better of Cubarsi but ultimately saw his shot scuppered by a sliding challenge from Aymeric Laporte.

Bad turned to worse for Peru mere minutes into the second half when a calamitous error from Gallese saw the experienced goalkeeper palm Yeremy Pino’s cross into his own net under very little pressure.

They were able to clinch a goal back shortly after the hour mark though, and they did so in style when Lopez threaded a remarkable ball beyond the Spanish defence for Velez to place past David Raya.

But another defensive calamity almost proved costly for Peru, when Renzo Garces’ botched clearance came close to sneaking past his own clearance after a threatening cross from Alejandro Grimaldo.

Spain now turn their attention to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and kickstart their Group H proceedings on Monday 15 June against Cape Verde in Atlanta, Georgia.