Madrid erupts as Spain lift the World Cup

The parade

Spain's players rode through central Madrid on an open-top bus, trophy in hand, to scenes that will be replayed on Spanish television for the next decade. Flags everywhere. Scarves everywhere. People hanging off anything that would hold their weight.

The images coming out of Madrid — reported by BBC Sport — show a city that genuinely did not hold back. This is what a country looks like when it wins the biggest prize in football.

What this means

This Spain side has now completed the set: Nations League, Euro 2024, World Cup 2026. Back-to-back-to-back. The squad that delivered in 2026 was built around a core of players who came of age in that Euro 2024 campaign — and they've gone all the way. That puts this generation in serious conversation with the 2008–2012 side that won three consecutive major tournaments and changed how the game was coached across Europe.

The bus barely moved for most of the route. For a squad that's been in near-constant tournament mode for two years, that felt like a fair send-off.

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Note: The specific scoreline, opponent, and match details from the 2026 World Cup final have not been confirmed from the sources available at time of publication. BBC Sport's coverage was gallery-led, focused on the celebrations. Flagside will update with full match facts once verified.