{"id":774596,"date":"2026-07-20T21:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/774596\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T21:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:35:09","slug":"spains-world-cup-champions-return-home-for-parade-and-celebrations-in-front-of-almost-2-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/774596\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain’s World Cup champions return home for parade and celebrations in front of almost 2 million"},"content":{"rendered":"

MADRID (AP) \u2014 Spain\u2019s World Cup-<\/a>winning soccer team<\/a> returned home on Monday and an estimated crowd of almost 2 million was on hand to greet the squad through the streets of Madrid.<\/p>\n

The 26 players and their coaching staff met with the country\u2019s royals, and then with Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/a>, after arriving in the Spanish capital a day after beating Argentina 1-0 in the final in New Jersey. <\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to the coaches and players for the style of play, the effort and the victory,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said. \u201cWe have truly enjoyed watching you play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The squad then boarded an open-top bus for a raucous parade through central Madrid. \u201cStars shine together\u201d was written on the bus, which also carried photos of the footballers.<\/p>\n

Players \u2014 carrying the World Cup trophy and wearing shirts with the words Somos Campeones (We Are Champions) \u2014 danced and interacted with the fans along the route. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an emotional and proud experience to represent a wonderful country with such passionate and devoted fans,\u201d Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said before the parade started. \u201cWe are filled with joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The squad traveled down Madrid\u2019s historic avenues from near Moncloa Palace, the prime minister\u2019s official residence, to Cibeles Square, where authorities told local media that some 120,000 people were on hand for a ceremony.<\/p>\n

Groups of fans had begun securing their spots near Cibeles late Monday morning ahead of the team\u2019s arrival, bringing umbrellas to protect against the sun and temperatures of up to 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit). <\/p>\n

The square is where previous Spain teams and their supporters have typically gathered to celebrate. It\u2019s also the traditional celebration spot for Real Madrid when it wins titles.<\/p>\n

Singers Aitana, Ana Mena and Lola \u00cdndigo were set to entertain the crowd at the ceremony at Cibeles.<\/p>\n

Officials estimated a total of around 1.8 million people welcomed the team in Madrid.<\/p>\n

Spain walked off with the trophy Sunday after Ferran Torres scored the winner in extra time to secure its second World Cup title \u2014 and first since 2010 in South Africa.<\/p>\n

The team was congratulated by the leaders of the three countries that co-hosted the tournament \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

\u201cI\u2019m very happy. I\u2019ve slept three or four hours, but for the team, I\u2019ll do whatever it takes,\u201d 19-year-old Victor \u00c1lvarez said.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cHonestly, 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,\u201d 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, northwest of Madrid, had died after a fountain he had climbed onto with friends to mark the victory had collapsed. <\/p>\n

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

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

The economy is expanding, the unemployment rate has halved and the country is forecast to again be among the Eurozone\u2019s fastest-growing major economies. Nationalist and separatist tensions have considerably cooled.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MADRID (AP) \u2014 Spain\u2019s World Cup-winning soccer team returned home on Monday and an estimated crowd of almost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[11981,12,116892,8363,793,9580,107237,403,3662,306138,99,330460,965],"class_list":["post-774596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-claudia-sheinbaum","tag-donald-trump","tag-ferran-torres","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-general-news","tag-mark-carney","tag-pedro-sanchez","tag-soccer","tag-spain","tag-spain-national-soccer-team","tag-sports","tag-victor-lvarez","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}