A plane carrying Spain’s newly crowned World Cup champions landed in Madrid on Monday, a day after the team’s 1-0 victory over Argentina in the final in the United States, with an estimated one million people flooding the streets of the Spanish capital to salute the players.
The Iberia aircraft carrying the squad touched down under clear blue skies and taxied to the terminal at Madrid-Barajas airport at 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT), a Spanish flag fluttering from the cockpit window as it arrived.
Head coach Luis de la Fuente was the first to step off the plane, followed by player of the tournament Rodri, who held the World Cup trophy aloft at the top of the stairs to roars from the waiting crowd.
From the airport, the squad were scheduled to travel to Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid for a meeting with King Felipe VI, before proceeding to government headquarters at Moncloa Palace for a reception hosted by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
The celebrations were then set to move into the heart of the capital, with players and coaching staff parading through central Madrid aboard an open-top bus before arriving at Cibeles Square, the traditional site for Real Madrid and Spanish national team celebrations, where a closing ceremony was due to be held before the assembled crowd.
The homecoming caps a triumphant World Cup campaign for Spain, who beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time on Sunday to win their second World Cup title, with Ferran Torres’s goal early in the second period of extra time proving decisive against a 10-man Argentina side.
