At 2:30 a.m. local time (05:30 UTC), the plane carrying the Argentine champions touched down in Buenos Aires.

Team captain Lionel Messi and national coach Lionel Scaloni were the first to leave the plane — with the World Cup trophy in Messi's hand.

The team walked down a red carpet to an open, white double-decker bus painted with the words "Campeones Del Mundo" (World Champions) and three stars for the three World Cup titles won in 1978, 1986 and 2022.

Despite the late hour, thousands of fans had come to welcome their World Cup heroes.

At a distance of five kilometers (three miles) away, the destination was the grounds of the Argentine Football Association.

The highlight later in the day was to be the reception by the fans around the obelisk, the capital's 68-meter-high (223-foot) landmark.

 As well as Messi, Diego Maradona is never far away in this city and country. Before Messi, Maradona was the last Argentina captain to lift the World Cup, in 1986. 

 Later on, the bus with the world champions aboard was swamped by thousands of Argentina fans.

The street party went on for hours. It is believed up to five million fans decended on the city.

With fans swarming the open-top bus, the tour on the ground was abandoned. Instead, the players took to helicopters and cruised above the city. 

 Some fans got a little too excited, with one jumping off a bridge and into the bus. Elsewhere, pockets of violence broke out between fans and the security forces.

This article was translated from German.