World Cup 2022 LIVE: All the reaction as Argentina and Lionel Messi return home

It was the country’s third World Cup title and first since 1986.

“I am very happy, we really deserved it. The team suffered a lot, but it recovered with the passage of time,” said Josefina Villalba, a 55-year-old babysitter who joined hundreds of fans in one of the many public squares where giant screens were set up to watch the feature film. expected match.

Millions of Argentines cried, shouted and hugged each other as they followed the game, which was a roller coaster of emotions.

“I feel immense happiness in my heart because this is the first World Cup that I really enjoy,” said Hector Quinteros, a 34-year-old security guard, his eyes brimming with tears. “This always happens. They always make us suffer.”

Kylian Mbappé and his teammates, who left Qatar on Monday, stopped by the Place de la Concorde in the evening to greet fans, according to a statement from the French Football Federation.

Unlike 2018, when France won the World Cup in Russia, the players did not parade down the Champs-Élysées avenue.

That was the reaction of The nation in Argentina, with the media at home raving after a third world title clinched in Qatar after the engrossing final in Doha, which ended in a penalty shootout win over France.

The newspaper adds that Messi “touched heaven in Qatar” and that they and all those associated with the Albiceleste went through “every mood.”

“World Champions” naturally proliferated on many of the websites and front pages, while olé used the pun for ‘god’ in Spanish, hailing Messi with his headline reading: “Lis is Argentine”.

The team members, led by captain Lionel Messi, were all smiles as they stepped off the plane in Ezeiza, just outside the Argentine capital, shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday on a red carpet that had been rolled out for the equipment.

Messi was the first player on the plane carrying the World Cup, flanked by coach Lionel Scaloni, who put his arm around the captain as they passed a banner that read: “Thank you, champions.”

Messi scored twice against France but his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe netted a hat trick in Sunday’s final in Qatar that ended 3-3 after extra time.

Follow all the reaction to the final and the World Cup as a whole on our live blog, right here.