Huge crowds welcome Argentina team home after World Cup victory

Thousands of fans have lined up in the middle of the night to try to get a glimpse of the Argentina football team that won one of the greatest World Cup finals of all time, Qazet.az reports.

The plane transporting the World Cup winners and their captain Lionel Messi back from Qatar arrived at the Ezeiza international airport in Buenos Aires at 2:40am local time (05:40 GMT) on Tuesday.

Having beaten France in Sunday’s thrilling final, the players will now spend the night at the Argentine Football Association (AFA) training complex near the airport.

They will then begin a tour of the Buenos Aires city centre from midday on Tuesday with millions expected out in the streets on what President Alberto Fernández declared a national holiday.

Messi, who scored twice in the final, was the first player to emerge from the plane, holding the World Cup aloft, with coach Lionel Scaloni right behind him as they walked past a sign that read, “Thank you, champions.”

Forward Julian Alvarez, a revelation in Qatar with his four goals, was one of the next players to emerge, alongside the man whose place he took in the team, Lautaro Martinez, who was carrying a drum.