World Cup: Spain to be welcomed home by million-strong Madrid crowd

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing AFP, reported that Spain’s men’s national football team was due to return to Madrid on Monday after winning the 2026 World Cup with a 1-0 extra-time victory over Argentina in Sunday’s final in New Jersey. Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal, giving Spain its second men’s World Cup title after its 2010 triumph in South Africa.

The squad, led by coach Luis de la Fuente, was scheduled to land in Madrid at 12:50pm local time with the trophy. Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida said the players would be received by King Felipe VI at Zarzuela Palace. Officials also planned an open-top bus parade from Moncloa to Cibeles Square, the traditional celebration site for Spain’s national team, with about one million people expected along the route.

Francisco Martin, the central government’s representative in Madrid, said additional transport and security measures were being arranged, including the deployment of 2,050 police officers and 400 Civil Guard personnel. Celebrations had already continued through the night in the capital, leaving parts of the Castellana littered as cleaning crews prepared for the parade.

The victory adds to a notable period for Spanish football: Al Jazeera noted that Spain’s women won the World Cup in 2023, meaning the country now holds both senior titles at the same time. The report also said Spain will be among the hosts of the 2030 World Cup. The celebrations were shadowed by a fatal incident in Ciudad Rodrigo, where a 13-year-old boy died after a fountain collapsed during festivities.