The China Mail - Spain's world champions head home to million-strong Madrid welcome

The triumph has sparked an outpouring of national pride in football-mad Spain, where many younger supporters had never witnessed the men's team lift the World Cup since their only previous title came in South Africa in 2010.

Fresh from their 1-0 victory over Argentina in Sunday's final in East Rutherford, United States, coach Luis de la Fuente's squad is due to land in Madrid at 12:50 pm (1050 GMT) with the golden trophy.

The players are then expected to be received by King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez before climbing aboard an open-top bus for a parade through central Madrid beginning at around 4:30 pm.

They will travel from near the Moncloa Palace, the prime minister's official residence, 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.

A total of 2,050 police officers and 400 Civil Guard personnel will be deployed, he added.

The precise timetable for the festivities had not been fully confirmed on Monday morning, however, with Sanchez scheduled to make a brief visit to Algeria before returning to Spain in the afternoon.

The royal household had also yet to confirm whether the king would attend the celebrations.

The scenes are expected to echo the celebrations that followed Spain's first World Cup title in 2010, when hundreds of thousands of supporters flooded Madrid's streets to welcome the team home after their victory in South Africa.

- 'Campeones!' -

While the country waited for the team's arrival, celebrations continued overnight from Madrid to Spain's smallest villages on Sunday night.

The capital was already buzzing with activity after the final, where thousands of supporters who gathered in bars and three fan zones had poured out into the streets in celebration.

Car horns blared, fireworks lit the sky and supporters poured into streets and squares moments after the final whistle, despite a tense final in which Spain struggled for long periods to break down the Argentine defence.

At Madrid's Colon Square, where a fan zone had been set up for the match, supporters wrapped in Spain's red-and-yellow flag sang and danced long into the balmy summer night, while others set off flares and fireworks, an AFP journalist observed.

"Campeones, campeones! (Champions, champions!)" chanted jubilant fans.

Others shouted "Que viva Espana! (long live Spain)" as they celebrated a triumph that came just two years after Spain's Euro 2024 victory and with the women's national team already holding the world title won in 2023.

"You have faced each challenge with the conviction of a great team and have carried the name of Spain to the very top," the Spanish Royal Household said on social media platform X, hailing a "reward" stemming in particular from "exemplary commitment in every match".

"Today, we celebrate a title. Tomorrow we will remember a legend," it added.

F.Brown--ThChM