Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo said the team's success at Euro 2016 meant they had gone down in the nation's history.
Portugal landed back in Lisbon after Sunday's 1-0 extra-time defeat of hosts France gave them their first ever success at a major international tournament.
They were cheered by thousands of happy fans as they paraded through the capital on the way to the Belem Palace, where they were welcomed by Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and later visited the central Alameda Dom Afonso Henriques square, where many more thousands of fans cheered as Ronaldo spoke from the podium.
"All of you, all the emigrants, these players, the coach -- everyone deserves this," Ronaldo said. "We have gone down in the history of Portugal. We are the first to win a big competition for our country. You deserve this as you always believed in us. Thank you all."
Wow ������ pic.twitter.com/nF6BJPZYJp
- Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) July 11, 2016
Ronaldo's teammates then joined in as the Real Madrid star performed his trademark "Siiiuuu" celebration to cheers from the crowd.
The 31-year-old also said on social media that he was due to begin his holidays but there has yet to be any confirmation of the extent of the knee injury that saw him substituted early in Sunday's final.