The World Cup Winners Argentina, led by Lionel Messi as captain, arrived home from Qatar early on Tuesday morning, just in time for a welcome-home celebration in the nation’s capital.
After defeating France in a nail-biting final on Sunday, the players will now spend the night at the Argentine Football Association (AFA) training facility close to the Ezeiza airport, where tens of thousands of fans had gathered to welcome them.
Millions are anticipated to be out in the streets on Tuesday, a public holiday, as they go to the famous Obelisk monument for a tour of the heart of Buenos Aires.
Student Ayrton Kerdocas, 25, told AFP outside the building, “We will be here all night and tomorrow as well.”
“Tomorrow we are not working, we won’t do anything and we’ll go directly to the Obelisk with Argentina.”
Argentina won the world championship for the first time in 36 years by defeating Germany 4-2 on penalties in the final in Qatar following a nail-biting 3-3 draw over 120 minutes of unmatched drama.
The World Cup was held aloft by Messi, who scored twice in the championship game, as he was the first player to exit the aircraft, closely followed by coach Lionel Scaloni.
Forward One of the players to leave the Aerolinas Argentinas Airbus A330 was Julian Alvarez, who made a huge impression in Qatar with his four goals.
The tail of the aircraft featured a photo of Messi and the slogan “one team, one country, one dream” on the side.
The athletes walked straight across a red carpet from the airport to a white open-top bus that read “world champions” and three stars on its side as their World Cup theme song “Muchachos” by ska band La Mosca blared out.
The World Cup Winners Argentina had a 2-0 lead with 10 minutes remaining in regulation and a 3-2 advantage with two minutes remaining in extra time. However, Kylian Mbappe scored the second-ever hat-trick in a World Cup final to force penalties, where Gonzalo Montiel converted the game-winning kick.
Despite the large number of revelers present during the festivities on Sunday, “people responded in a really nice way,” according to a town official.
Less than 20 persons were detained for sporadic acts of theft or violence.
“It comforts the heart,”
Fans in the heart of Paris cheered the defeated French athletes as they arrived from Qatar on Monday.
