World Cup: Winners Argentina begin journey back to Buenos Aires with hundreds of thousands waiting

World Cup-winning Argentina players including Lionel Messi have set off on their journey as they fly back from Qatar as world champions.

The South American side beat France 4-2 on penalties at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday evening in a thrilling match.

And Argentina are currently on their way home, where hundreds of thousands of jubilant fans are waiting for them to begin the celebrations in earnest with Messi and Co.

The flight, with the World Cup trophy in tow – which left at 5am Argentina time – will refuel in Italian capital city Rome, before flying on to Ezeiza in Buenos Aires. They are expected to land at dawn on Tuesday morning.

In total there are two planes for the entourage of the champions, including players, coaches, staff and family members. 

And stars including Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez posed happily with their precious gold passenger.

Messi’s post on social media site Instagram had amassed 11.8million likes one hour after being posted and is already the second-most liked photo in the website’s history.

Fernandez commented saying: ‘GOOD MORNING. Going like this we celebrate ALL TOGETHER.’