Spain lifted the World Cup and the whole country lost its mind — rightly so. Now the celebrations have hit the streets of Madrid, and honestly, it's the kind of scenes that remind you why football still matters more than almost anything else.
The 26-man squad returned home on Monday to a reception that most countries could only dream of: nearly two million people lining the streets for a parade, a sit-down with the royals, and a meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. When a country puts on a welcome like that, you know they've genuinely earned it.
The Scale of It
Nearly two million people in Madrid. Let that settle. This wasn't a polite gather on a Tuesday afternoon — this was the sort of collective joy that stops a city in its tracks. Spain haven't just won a trophy; they've produced a squad that's captured something bigger than football right now, a sense of generational identity built around genuinely thrilling football.
[Rodri's Golden Ball win](/getohedz/football/rodri-wins-golden-ball-as-spain-dominate-awards) capped off an extraordinary tournament for Spain, and seeing those individual honours translate into a national celebration of this scale feels entirely earned. This wasn't a tournament they scraped through — they dominated it, and the awards reflected that.
What This Squad Represents
It's hard to think of many international squads right now that feel as cohesive and as exciting as Spain's. They've managed to blend experience with the kind of electric youth that doesn't come along often. Lamine Yamal, barely old enough to remember Spain's last World Cup win, was at the centre of this entire run — and now he's being paraded through Madrid in front of millions.
[France's Mbappé took the Golden Boot with 10 goals](/getohedz/football/frances-mbapp-wins-golden-boot-ahead-of-messi), and he'll be a problem for years to come, but on this occasion Spain had the answers. They navigated a brutal Argentina side in what will go down as one of the great finals, and they did it with a clarity of purpose that their coach and his staff deserve enormous credit for.
The royal welcome — kings, queens, prime ministers, the lot — might strike some as pomp for its own sake, but it also signals something genuine. The Spanish football federation, the players, and the fans have been through a turbulent few years behind the scenes. That this team managed to transcend all of it and deliver a World Cup on foreign soil is genuinely remarkable.
Our Take
Spain are world champions, the streets of Madrid are buzzing, and a generation of players who grew up watching this tournament are now the ones being celebrated inside it. We can get lost in the politics and the noise around the game, but moments like Monday's parade are why people fall in love with football in the first place.
Two million people don't lie. Spain were the best team in the world this summer, and right now, it'd take a brave person to bet against them staying exactly that.