FIFA World Cup heroes Spain return home ahead of victory parade

Spain’s newly crowned World Cup champions returned to Madrid on Monday to a jubilant homecoming ahead of a victory parade expected to draw about one million people, according to a monitored public feed citing Dawn Sport.

Captain Rodri carried the trophy off the Iberia plane as the squad landed from the United States after sealing Spain’s second men’s World Cup title with a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina in New Jersey on Sunday. Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal, triggering celebrations across the football-mad country that continued well into the night.

By morning, Madrid’s Castellana avenue still showed signs of the previous evening’s revelry, with trash, beer cans and broken glass left on the streets as cleaning crews worked early to clear the route for the official celebrations. Madrid mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida told RNE radio that many supporters had barely slept after the match and the nationwide partying that followed.

The team is due to be received by King Felipe VI at Zarzuela Palace on the outskirts of Madrid before meeting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the government headquarters, La Moncloa. From there, the players will join an open-top bus parade that will begin at Moncloa and finish at Cibeles square, the traditional focal point for Spanish football celebrations.

Francisco Martin, the central government’s representative in Madrid, said around one million people are expected to line the route, with extra security and transport arrangements planned to manage the crowds. Supporters were already making plans to celebrate again despite the late-night partying that followed the final.

“We’ll have to celebrate it one way or another,” said Bruno Gonzalez del Yerro, a 32-year-old financier, noting that Spain had waited about 16 years to win the tournament again.

The victory has carried particular meaning for younger fans, many of whom were not yet born when Andres Iniesta’s extra-time goal gave Spain its first World Cup title in 2010. Spain’s women’s side won the World Cup in 2023, making Spain the first country to hold both the men’s and women’s trophies at the same time.

The celebrations were so intense that seismometers in several Spanish cities reportedly detected vibrations linked to fans jumping and cheering after Torres’ goal. Researchers at Geosciences Barcelona said the sensors registered three notable bursts of activity during the match, including the strongest signal after the final whistle. Scientists described the readings as induced seismicity caused by mass human movement.

There was also a sombre note to the festivities. A 13-year-old boy died around midnight in Ciudad Rodrigo in western Spain after a fountain collapsed under the weight of supporters who had climbed on it to celebrate, the feed said.

Spanish newspapers hailed the team in glowing terms after a run that included a semi-final victory over France and a final against Argentina, who were left disappointed despite the presence of Lionel Messi. In Buenos Aires, the reaction was initially quiet before grief set in, while hundreds of thousands were expected to welcome the team home after defeat.

The report is based on a monitored public feed and attributed to Dawn Sport. Source: Dawn Sport - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017043/fifa-world-cup-heroes-spain-return-home-ahead-of-victory-parade