Celebration In Paris
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Workers at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport rolled out the welcome mat.
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France players Adil Rami, Corentin Tolisso and Nabil Fekir (front to back) disembark in Paris.
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France's 19-year-old Kylian Mbappé was one of the surprise stars of the tournament.
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The team bus rolls down the Champs-Élysées as an estimated half a million spectators line the boulevard.
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The victory celebration rolls through haze created by flares and smoke on the way to the palace.
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Fans dancing in the Paris streets to celebrate the World Cup victory.
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7/13
The victory procession moves up the Champs.
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The French Air Force gets in on the action as the Patrouille de France delivers a tricolor sky over the Arc de Triomphe.
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9/13
On the Metro, stations got new names to celebrate France's second star.
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10/13
Even the Parisian police, not known for their good humor, were in the spirit for the celebration.
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France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, and midfielder Paul Pogba go for the gold at the Élysée Palace ceremony.
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12/13
France players celebrate with President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace.
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13/13
Fans at the Place de la Concorde await the team's arrival at the luxury Hotel de Crillon.
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Thousands gathered in Paris to "congratulate France's national football team" as it began its bus parade toward Champs-Élysées, according to Pleasance, Green & Allen of the London DAILY MAIL. The players landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport on Monday and made their way down the streets of the capital in a bus toward the "triumphant parade." French President Emmanuel Macron said that Les Bleus players will all be awarded the Legion of Honour -- France's most prestigious award -- "ahead of their evening visit to the Elysee Palace." Two fans died overnight, "including a 50-year-old man who broke his neck diving into a canal in the Alpine city of Annecy," while a man in his 30s "was killed when he crashed his car" in nearby St. Felix. Police said that they arrested a total of 292 people across France, "with 102 of those coming in Paris following the violence which broke out on Sunday night." Looters were filmed breaking into a Lacoste store in Paris "before making away with armfuls of goods from inside." The trouble continued into Monday morning, with officers called to a Nike store on the Champs-Élysées when crowds "built up eager to get their hands on new football shirts featuring a second star above the team badge to denote the win." French newspapers "plastered images of the World Cup victory across their front pages on Monday morning." There was "serious trouble in the eastern city of Lyon, where hundreds of youths went on the rampage, attacking cars and setting fire to wheelie-bins." In Aubenas, in the Ardeche department, "three pedestrians walking on the pavement were hit by a car, and then taken to hospital." And in Ajaccio, on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, "scuffles broke out between France and Croatia supporters" (DAILY MAIL, 7/16).
POLITICAL BOOST?: BLOOMBERG's Viscusi & Fouquet reported Macron can only hope the French team's "success and popularity rubs off on him." He "may be disappointed." Pollster OpinionWay Dir General Bruno Jeanbart said, "A World Cup won’t make political opposition to Macron go away. The opposition is because of issues like taxation; it’s not a question of the national mood." Macron was present at the final in Moscow, and a "photo of him jumping for joy went viral." He "later went to the dressing room," where videos shot by the players "showed him drinking, dancing, and singing with the team" before telling the players how proud they had made the country and "what an example they were for its youth" (BLOOMBERG, 7/16). REUTERS' Luke Baker reported crowds of "joyful French fans" gathered at Charles de Gaulle Airport on Monday to await the return of their World Cup-winning football team. Newspapers "hailed a second World Cup for France." L'Équipe declared, "History Made." Photos of Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba, "as well as shots of the team holding aloft and kissing the trophy in the pouring rain, dominated coverage." The victory "has helped foster a sense of national unity, with commentators playing up the fact the squad, the second-youngest in the competition, includes many with central and north African heritage," even if "all but two were born in France" (REUTERS, 7/16).
'TOTAL LOVE': In London, Angelique Chrisafis reported some supporters on the Champs-Élysées "had tears in their eyes" with what they called "total love" for the "young, diverse French squad that had created what commentators have called a new form of peaceful and multicultural French patriotism" that has acted as "a balm in a society still shaken by years of terrorist attacks" (GUARDIAN, 7/15).
CONFERENCE CALL: France's jubilant player's "crashed" coach Didier Deschamps post-match news conference, dancing and singing while spraying both champagne and water. Deschamps, only the third man to win a World Cup as a player and a coach, was speaking to the media after his team’s 4-2 victory over Croatia. But he was briefly interrupted by a group of players, some still in uniform, some bare chested and some wearing their winners’ medal around their necks. A couple of players stood on the conference table and danced as Deschamps shared hugs with some others. Deschamps: “Sorry! They’re young and they’re happy” (AP, 7/16).
