WORLD CUP
2026

When Argentina won the World Cup in Qatar in December 2022, the team flew home to a celebration so enormous that organisers eventually had to cancel the planned open-top bus route through the streets of Buenos Aires because the crowds had become too dense and unpredictable for safety. An estimated five million people, more than a tenth of the entire population of Argentina, poured into the streets and highways trying to catch a glimpse of the team, with fans climbing onto traffic light poles, billboards, and even the roofs of moving trucks for a better view. Captain Lionel Messi and his teammates were eventually moved to a helicopter to fly safely over the crowds and reach the team hotel, waving down at an ocean of blue and white that stretched as far as anyone could see. The scenes were broadcast around the world as one of the largest sporting celebrations ever recorded, a vivid reminder that winning the World Cup does not just thrill a stadium of fans, it can flood an entire nation with joy for weeks at a time.