Why is Pedri benched for Spain vs France in FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final?

Pedri will start on the bench against France tonight.

Spain have confirmed their starting lineup against France for their semi-final FIFA World Cup 2026 match, with De la Fuente opting to start a similar midfield that faced Belgium in the quarter-final.

Meaning, once again, he has decided to bench Barcelona’s key cog Pedri for the match, which has raised serious doubts about his ability in the competition.

However, Fuente feels that the midfield that he selected against Belgium worked perfectly, which could be the reason behind his using the same players in the middle of the pitch.

Pedri benched again in FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final game against France

Pedri is fit but is starting on the bench again in the World Cup game, demonstrating that he has fallen down in the pecking order in the tournament. With Fabián Ruiz also scoring in the last match, he has become the perfect partner for Rodri.

Even though he came off the bench against Belgium, he hasn’t been able to influence the game so far in this competition, which raises doubt about whether he should be the starter for La Roja.

Nonetheless, he will get his minutes against France as Fuente will be needing fresh legs to impact the game, and there is no better player than Pedri, who can control the match and open the opposition defence.

But much of the noise will be around his form in this World Cup as he has now been benched for the second game in a row despite being the most impactful midfielder for Spain.

However, Spain will be hoping to win their third game in a row against France tonight and will book a spot in the final for the second time since 2010, when they won the World Cup.

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