Rodri lifts trophy upon landing as world champions Spain touch down in Madrid
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Rodri lifts trophy upon landing as world champions Spain touch down in Madrid")
Rodri lifts trophy upon landing as world champions Spain touch down in Madrid Photograph: (AFP)
World Cup winners Spain return home to Madrid following their 1-0 win over Argentina. Read details on the team's victory parade route, royal receptions, and street celebrations.
The 2026 World Cup winners, Spain, touched down in Madrid on Monday (Jul 20), with their team captain Rodri holding the coveted trophy aloft at the top of the stairs. As the Iberia plane landed in the capital city, where the recently crowned champions are scheduled to join an open-top bus parade across Madrid with millions expected to participate in the celebrations, Rodri and the whole team celebrated together.
Spain’s 1-0 win over Lionel Messi-led Argentina in New Jersey on Sunday, secured by a late Ferran Torres strike in the 106th minute, led to wild celebrations across Spain, with fans storming the streets overnight. It was Spain’s second World Cup win -- and first since 2010, when they beat the 10-man Netherlands in the final in South Africa.
"I didn't sleep much, because... (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," Madrid mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida said in a chat with RNE radio.
King Felipe VI will receive the players at Zarzuela Palace, on Madrid’s outskirts, according to the mayor. Later, the Prime Minister will greet the team at La Moncloa, the government headquarters. Spain's World Cup winners will then enjoy an open-top bus parade, starting at Moncloa and heading to Cibeles square, the central government's representative in Madrid, Francisco Martin, told Spanish public television.
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. Around one million people are expected to line the parade route, with additional security and transport measures planned to handle the crowds, Martin said.
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In 2030, Spain will defend their crown on home soil, as one of the World Cup hosts alongside Portugal and Morocco.
Meanwhile, Spain's 2026 World Cup win puts them on a pedestal as one of the best and the most successful football nations since the start of the 2000s. La Roja have won two FIFA World Cups, a UEFA Nations League trophy (2023), three European championships (in 2008, 2012 and 2024), and an Olympic gold at the Paris Games the same year.
