Argentina Declares Public Holiday As Messi Returns Home

The victorious Argentina national team touched down at Buenos Aires airport earlier today, December 20, 2022, less than two days after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

As expected, the Argentina national team arrived in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, in a carnival-like atmosphere even though it was as early as 02:24 local time (05:24 GMT).

To give room for the Argentine fans to celebrate elaborately with the national team, the country’s government has declared Tuesday as a public holiday.

Recall that Lionel Messi’s led Argentina national team beat France in the final of the World Cup via penalties on Sunday after the game ended in a 3-3 draw.

Messi, the country’s 35-year-old football star, played a major role in the World Cup triumph as he scored seven goals and provided four assists in the entire tournament.

In the final of the tournament, the record seven times Ballon d’Or winner scored two goals and also scored in the penalty shootout to secure the World Cup trophy.

Fireworks rained in Argentina as the winning team arrived home.

He didn’t only help the Argentina national team to win the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, but he received the player of the tournament award.

Hence, the streets of Buenos Aires wore the colors of the country’s flag and images of Lionel Messi. The fans also lined the streets as they traveled on an open-top bus to their Football Association’s headquarters.

Naija News gathered that the main celebration will be at the capital city’s Obelisk monument at midday (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

Recall that the last time Argentina won the FIFA World Cup before 2022 was in 1986 in Mexico. Diego Maradona was voted Best Player of the tournament after scoring five goals and providing an assist that helped Argentina to beat West Germany 3-2 in the final.