Spain\u2019s World Cup winning soccer team returned home on Monday, where the 26-man squad is due to meet with Spain\u2019s royals and Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez before boarding an open-top bus for a raucous 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 now-dethroned champion Argentina<\/a> 1-0 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It was only the second time \u2013 after a 2010 victory in South Africa \u2013 that Spain won the title. <\/p>\n The Spanish team was congratulated Sunday by the leaders of the three countries that co-hosted the tournament \u2013 U.S. 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 \u2013 singing, dancing and setting off flares while car horns blared throughout the capital.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Spain’s Rodri lifts the World Cup trophy alongside teammates as they celebrate winning the World Cup on Sunday.Hannah McKay\/Reuters<\/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 said 19 year-old Victor \u00c1lvarez early Monday. <\/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 \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 celebrate had collapsed. <\/p>\n