Spain’s final home game before the trip to North America for World Cup 2026 ended in a 1-1 draw against Iraq at the iconic Riazor Stadium in La Coruña, and Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored a beautiful goal as Luis de la Fuente’s side continued preparations for the summer’s big tournament.
Five Barça players started the game with Joan Garcia in goal, Marc Bernal making his senior debut alongside Gavi
and Dani Olmo in midfield, and Ferran as the captain on the right wing. All four Blaugrana outfielders had very good moments in the first period, with Bernal and Gavi especially impressive at the base of midfield. Olmo did a good job finding the forwards in good positions, and Ferran scored a sensational opener with a beautiful run from his own half all the way into the edge of the box where he fired home La Roja’s first goal.
Joan Garcia didn’t have much to do, but his only important moment was a bad one as the shot-stopper was caught off guard and slightly out of position by an impressive shot from Iraq’s Merchas Doski that went into the net as the visitors equalized in shocking fashion.
Eric Garcia was the sixth Barça player to appear in the game as he came on at halftime to replace Aymeric Laporte at center-back, while Ferran and Olmo came off at the break. Bernal and Gavi were replaced at the hour mark, and Joan came off in the 75th minute to give Leo Román some minutes in goal.
The majority of the Spanish players at the end were youngsters who will are not in the squad for the World Cup, and their lack of experience and continuity showed as La Roja struggled to produce a good attack to find the winning goal. The final whistle came to end the contest in a draw, and give Iraq a lot of confidence going into their journey in America.
Spain have one last warm-up against Peru in Puebla, Mexico on Monday, and we’ll see a much stronger side as De La Fuente will look for a winning end to the preparations for the biggest party of the summer.
