A fuel assembly for a pressurized water reactor has a plurality of fuel rods that are guided inside a plurality of axially spaced-apart spacers that are composed of grid webs. Each grid web forms a grid with a multitude of grid cells disposed in rows and columns. The grid webs are provided with flow guides for generating a cooling water current encompassing a transversal flow component that is oriented parallel to the spacer plane. At least one spacer is formed of a multitude of sub-regions, each of which is greater than one grid cell. The flow guides are configured and distributed within the spacer in such a way that in the wake above each sub-region, a transverse flow distribution is created which causes cooling water to be exchanged at least almost exclusively between secondary flow ducts located within the sub-region.