1-0 victory<\/a> against Argentina in New Jersey on Sunday, secured by a Ferran Torres strike in extra-time, has sparked an outpouring of national pride in the football-mad country, whose only other World Cup triumph came in 2010.<\/p>\nRecommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
Coach Luis de la Fuente and his squad\u2019s flight had a scheduled landing time in Madrid of 12:50pm (10:50 GMT) with the golden trophy in tow, after a dominant performance with \u201ctotal control\u201d against a \u201chelpless Argentine side\u201d, according to Spanish daily Marca.<\/p>\n
Many younger supporters were not yet born when Andres Iniesta\u2019s extra-time goal against the Netherlands secured Spain\u2019s first World Cup in South Africa 16 years ago.<\/p>\n
On Monday morning, the Castellana, Madrid\u2019s main avenue, bore the marks of a boozy evening \u2013 the tarmac strewn with rubbish, beer cans and shards of glass.<\/p>\n
Among the last remaining supporters, some slept with grins on their faces on the pavement or on benches, while others were still staggering home as cleaning crews worked from the early hours to prepare the route for tonight\u2019s party.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t sleep much, because \u2026 [of] the celebration and then the tension of the match. I think it was a little more difficult for all of us to fall asleep,\u201d Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida told RNE radio.<\/p>\n
After landing, the players will be received by King Felipe VI at Zarzuela Palace, on the outskirts of Madrid, according to the mayor.<\/p>\n
It is not yet known whether the team will be met by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the government headquarters, La Moncloa, as he had to make a swift visit to Algeria.<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s World Cup winners will enjoy an open-top bus parade, starting at Moncloa and heading to Cibeles Square, the central government\u2019s representative in Madrid, Francisco Martin, told Spanish public television.<\/p>\n
A ceremony involving the players will then be held at the square, the traditional gathering point for celebrations by the Spanish national team and its supporters.<\/p>\n
About one million people are expected to line the parade route, with additional security and transport measures planned to handle the crowds, Martin explained.<\/p>\n
A total of 2,050 police officers and 400 Civil Guard personnel will be deployed, he added.<\/p>\n
Some supporters who already had only a short night\u2019s sleep are planning to celebrate again, like Bruno Gonzalez del Yerro, a 32-year-old financier.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have to celebrate it one way or another, given that it only happens every four years and that Spain hadn\u2019t won it for about [16] years now. It definitely deserves a party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s women\u2019s side won the World Cup in 2023, meaning for the first time a country has both trophies at the same time.<\/p>\n
In 2030 Spain will defend their crown on home soil, as one of the World Cup hosts along with Portugal and Morocco.<\/p>\n
The Spanish press was running out of superlatives to describe its heroes after they overcame favourites France in the semifinal before downing Argentina.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kings of all-time!\u201d wrote Marca, celebrating a \u201csecond star that will now be stitched onto the Spanish jersey after yet another masterclass in collective play\u201d.<\/p>\n
On a tragic note, a 13-year-old boy was killed at about midnight in the town of Ciudad Rodrigo in the west, after a fountain crumbled under the weight of supporters who had climbed onto it to celebrate.<\/p>\n
In Buenos Aires, the initial silence after defeat was striking, and then the tears came once the reality sank in. Their hopes of a fourth World Cup were dashed, but hundreds of thousands of people are expected to greet the team on their return at 5pm local time (20:00 GMT).<\/p>\n
After more than five weeks of competition with the expanded format and 48 teams, only Spain and Argentina were left standing by the 104th and final match.<\/p>\n
The 2022 champions, despite the presence of all-time great Lionel Messi, failed to create clear chances against Spain\u2019s well-organised and more positive side.<\/p>\n
Enzo Fernandez\u2019s red card left Argentina with their backs pinned to the wall, and Barcelona forward Torres slammed home after fellow substitute Nico Williams teed him up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not my goal, it\u2019s the goal of 47 million people,\u201d said Spain\u2019s match-winner.<\/p>\n
Messi had a sensational World Cup but drifted through the final like a ghost, shedding tears at the end. In Madrid, tears will also flow on Monday night, but tears of joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published On 20 Jul 202620 Jul 2026 A million jubilant Spain supporters are expected to greet their heroes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[66,313,273,17,314,26,1180,3003],"class_list":["post-58099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-europe","tag-football","tag-news","tag-spain","tag-sport","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}