Spain celebrates World Cup glory with Madrid victory parade

Spain’s World Cup-winning men’s team returned to Madrid on Monday carrying the trophy, then headed straight into a homecoming built on scale: royal greetings at Zarzuela Palace, an audience with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and a victory parade expected to fill central streets with millions of people.

The 26-man squad was met by King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia, underscoring how far the celebration reached beyond sport. Sánchez also greeted the players and coaching staff as the team arrived in the capital after beating Argentina 1-0 in Sunday’s final in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

That match was settled in extra time before 70,000-plus fans at MetLife Stadium. Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal in the 106th minute, sealing Spain’s second men’s World Cup title and ending Argentina’s bid for back-to-back championships. The result also gave Spain its first men’s title since 2010, restoring the country to the top of the game 16 years after its previous triumph.

Madrid then became the stage for the country’s wider release of emotion. An estimated crowd of almost 2 million lined the streets to greet the champions, with more than a million people reported or expected along the parade route to Cibeles Square. The procession turned the team’s arrival into a national event, one that brought together fans who had followed the run to the final and many more who simply wanted to be part of a day that will sit high in Spanish sporting memory.

The title carried another milestone as well. Combined with Spain’s women’s World Cup win in 2023, the victory made Spain the first country to hold the men’s and women’s World Cup titles simultaneously. For Spanish football, the moment linked two generations of champions in one summer and gave the national team a place in history that now stretches across both sides of the game.