{"id":559458,"date":"2026-07-20T19:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/559458\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T19:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:04:11","slug":"spains-world-cup-champions-return-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/559458\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain’s World Cup champions return home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spain’s World Cup-winning team has returned home, where the 26-man squad met with Spain\u2019s royals and prime minister Pedro Sanchez before boarding an open-top bus for a parade through central Madrid.<\/p>\n

Throngs of fans will greet them as they travel down Madrid\u2019s historic avenues from near Moncloa Palace, the prime minister\u2019s official residence, to Cibeles Square.<\/p>\n

A ceremony with the players will then be held at the square, where previous Spanish national teams and their supporters have traditionally gathered to celebrate.<\/p>\n

Spain walked off with the trophy at Sunday\u2019s final after defeating Argentina 1-0<\/a> in East Rutherford, New Jersey.<\/p>\n

It was only the second time \u2014 after a 2010 victory in South Africa \u2014 that Spain won the title.<\/p>\n

\"MADRID,
\nSpain pose for a picture at the airport<\/p>\n

The Spanish team was congratulated on Sunday by the leaders of the three countries that co-hosted the tournament \u2014 US president Donald Trump, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney.<\/p>\n

After the final whistle, the Spanish capital erupted into celebrations, with thousands of supporters pouring into the streets from bars and restaurants, many draped in Spanish flags or wearing the team\u2019s colours.<\/p>\n

Crowds packed Madrid\u2019s Puerta de Sol and other major squares \u2014 singing, dancing and setting off flares while car horns blared throughout the capital.<\/p>\n

Many celebrated Sunday\u2019s victory long into the early hours of Monday morning.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m very happy. I\u2019ve slept three or four hours, but for the team, I\u2019ll do whatever it takes,” said 19-year-old Victor Alvarez early on Monday.<\/p>\n

\"MADRID,<\/p>\n

The World Cup victory, combined with the Women\u2019s World Cup won by Spain in 2023, makes the European nation the first to hold both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s titles simultaneously.<\/p>\n

“Honestly, it was very exciting. We preferred not to go to any bar or anything, to experience it at home, focused and very happy, very joyful,” 59-year-old civil servant Gema Rodero said.<\/p>\n

Celebrations were dampened, however, after local authorities reported that a 13-year-old in Salamanca, north west of Madrid, had died after a fountain he had climbed onto with friends to celebrate had collapsed.<\/p>\n

For many young supporters, the Spanish team\u2019s triumph is their first time witnessing the men\u2019s team lift the trophy \u2014 and the national delirium that has followed.<\/p>\n

Spain today is markedly different from the country in 2010, when the Iberian nation was beset by a debt crisis, 20% unemployment and nationalist regions fighting to win greater autonomy.<\/p>\n

Today, Spain\u2019s economy is expanding, the unemployment rate has halved and the country is forecast to again be among the Eurozone\u2019s fastest-growing major economies.<\/p>\n

Nationalist and separatist tensions have considerably cooled.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the team\u2019s return, supporters waited in Madrid\u2019s Barajas airport ready to greet them in an arrivals hall, many donning the team\u2019s jerseys and waving Spanish flags.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain’s World Cup-winning team has returned home, where the 26-man squad met with Spain\u2019s royals and prime minister…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-559458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}