Moscow erupts into massive street party after Russia's World Cup win

The last time anyone in Moscow seems to remember a party anything like this was when Russia won World War II.

On Sunday, Russia’s national team beat Spain in penalties in a World Cup match that knocked the former champions out of the tournament and took Russia through to the quarter-finals.

The reaction in Moscow was an eruption of uninhibited joy, wild dancing and yelling that poured into the heart of the Russian capital.

Tens of thousands of people filled the streets. For miles around the Kremlin, crowds carried flags and screamed "Russia! Russia!" On almost every road in the city, cars could be heard honking their horns. Underground on the subway, passengers roared at each other each time the train doors opened. In the area around the Bolshoi ballet theater, where fans have been partying for two weeks, people parked cars in the middle of roads with boom-boxes playing and block parties sprung up around them, blocking traffic.

Police, who in normal times might stop people for shouting, stood by and watched seeming happy and a little bewildered. Amazed revellers told reporters they had never seen anything like it. The atmosphere was delirious.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, compared the street celebrations to the scale of the colossal, joyous celebrations on the day the second World War ended for Russia, when a sea of people packed Red Square.

"If you look at the streets of many Russian cities yesterday, including also in Moscow, I myself saw, in many it was comparable with May 9th 1945," Peskov told reporters on his daily briefing call Tuesday.

The outpouring was a reaction to the fact that the team did what nobody, including their own fans had predicted. Ranked 70th and doubted to even reach the knock-out stage, Russia beat one of the best teams in the world that had been a favorite to win the tournament. In doing so, Russia is through to the quarter-finals of a World Cup for the first time since 1970, when the Soviet Union still existed.

Leading up to the tournament, the team had been the butt of jokes among Russians. Now, unbelievably, it has achieved one of the country's greatest soccer successes.

And it was done with heart-constricting tension for Russian fans. Russia didn’t outplay the Spanish, instead they endured. The Russian’s performance has been drawing comparisons to how they fought Napoleon when he invaded in 1812 -— a relentless, grinding defensive retreat that eventually left their more powerful opponents exhausted by their own efforts.

The soccer itself was dreary. The Russians mounted almost no attacks and focused on blocking Spain, who also played weakly, scoring only from an own-goal. The Russians appeared to be holding out with grim, pained determination for penalties from before the second half. When Russia was awarded a goal for a penalty given to Spain, the Russian fans cheered wildly, knowing they had survived and now might just have a chance to win.

And then they did. Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev instantly became one of Russia’s greatest soccer heroes as he spectacularly batting away Iago Aspas’ penalty with an outstretched foot, while the rest of him flew through the air in the wrong direction.

That save detonated the wild reactions in Moscow.

"Only happiness! I still can’t understand that we have won," said Ekaterina Kalashnikova, a woman wearing a traditional kokoshnik headdress near the Bolshoi Ballet after the game.

"That’s incredible, that’s simply incredible. Look at the city -— can you imagine if we get through the quarter-finals?" said Lev Omalkov, a young man in a Russia jersey gesturing at the huge crowds near the Kremlin. "We will destroy the whole city, that’s it!"

The exuberance of the celebrations was fueled by how unlikely it had all seemed. There had already been wild partying after Russia’s unexpectedly goal-filled 5-0 win against Saudi Arabia in their opening game two weeks ago. One cab driver watching the reveling then told an ABC News reporter, scornfully, “it’s as though we’ve beaten Spain.”

On Sunday, they had done just that.

Many of those celebrating Sunday looked around them saucer-eyed, expressing a sentiment that has become common at this World Cup -— they could not believe this was Moscow. Two young women came out of a crowd dancing in the middle the road, where a giant stuffed bear was being bounced in the air and young men were scaling scaffolding to dance 30-feet up.

“Never," one of the women said. "Moscow will never be like this [again]."