In an effort to catch a glimpse of the Argentina football team that won one of the greatest World Cup finals ever, thousands of fans have lined up in the middle of the night.
At 2:40 a-m local time (05:40 a-m GMT) on Tuesday, the plane carrying the World Cup winners and their captain, Lionel Messi, returned from Qatar made its way to the E Z-E-I Z-A international airport in Buenos Aires.
The players will now spend the night at the Argentine Football Association (AFA) training complex near the airport after beating France in the thrilling final on Sunday.
They will then begin a tour of the city center of Buenos Aires at noon on Tuesday, which President Alberto Fernández has declared a national holiday and millions of people are expected to take to the streets.
As they passed a sign that read, "Thank you, champions," Messi, who scored twice in the championship game, was the first player to emerge from the plane, holding the World Cup in his hands. Coach Lionel Scaloni was right behind him.
Forward Julian Alvarez, a disclosure in Qatar with his four objectives, was one of the following players to arise, close by the man whose place he took in the group, L-A U T-A R O Martinez, who was conveying a drum.
A picture of the World Cup strapped into an airplane seat was shared online by Nicolás Tagliafico as though it were just another passenger
On the plane's tail was a picture of Messi and the words, "One nation, One team, One dream".
The players were invited by musical crew La M O S C-A singing M U C H A C H O S, a melody that was composed by a fan to the tune of an old tune by the band and turned into a well known informal song of praise for Argentina fans at the World Cup in Qatar.
Before making their way to the AFA headquarters, the world champions got on an open-top bus and sang along as they waited for everyone else to get on.
As fans, many of whom were waving Argentina flags, swarmed the bus on a highway, eager to catch a glimpse of the players, the bus moved at a snail's pace as police officers tried to keep them away.
Players will sleep for a few hours at the AFA headquarters before heading to the Obelisk, a famous landmark in B U-E N O S Aires. On Sunday, the team won its third World Cup, its first since 1986, breaking France's dream of winning two tournaments in a row.
Messi finished second in the tournament's scoring with seven goals in Qatar 2022, behind Kylian M B-A P-E of France
The success of the Messi-led team at the World Cup has brought much-needed good news to a nation that has been in economic decline for years, has one of the highest inflation rates in the world, and has nearly four out of every ten people living in poverty.
Fernández retweeted a few messages of congrats for the World Cup triumph from other world pioneers, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After speaking with Putin over the phone, Fernández wrote on Twitter, "Thank you for this greeting, President Putin". Let the joy that today joins Argentina with such countless nations on the planet act, for instance: Unity and peace are needed in our societies
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