With the most coveted trophy in football, Lionel Messi and his colleagues left for Argentina on Monday as millions of people in their country eagerly anticipated their return and the chance to see the World Cup trophy.
Millions of people took to the streets in the nation’s capital, Buenos Aires, and other cities to celebrate their amazing victory over France in the World Cup final on penalties on Sunday in Qatar.
Messi produced a performance that will go down in World Cup history, scoring a first-half penalty and then again in extra time to give his record-breaking career the one trophy it had been missing.
Kylian Mbappe scored twice in the final 10 minutes to pull France from a 2-0 deficit and force overtime in a pulsating match watched by an 89,000 crowd in Lusail Stadium.
With his second goal of the game, Messi appeared to have decided the game in extra time. However, Mbappe, a teammate from Paris Saint-Germain, scored his third goal of the game to tie the game at 3-3 and force penalties.
Argentina won the shootout 4-2 thanks to Gonzalo Montiel’s successful penalty attempt, but this was Messi’s chance to shine.
And while the players were allowed to enjoy their victory on Sunday night with an estimated 40,000 people inside the stadium, there will be 45 million admirers waiting for their heroes at home on Monday night.
In the Plaza de Mayo area in the heart of Buenos Aires, where celebrations continued well into Sunday night, teacher Veronica Silva, 44, told AFP, “Of course, it’s what we’re all waiting for.”
“This will continue for a couple of days. It started now and it won’t end tomorrow because they arrive tomorrow: it will go on for longer.”
“Of course we can’t wait to see the players, all of them,” added cleaner Rosa Rodriguez, 63.
“It’s a good team who did us proud. The biggest celebration will be when they arrive.”
