Thousands had tracked the plane, the state airline Aerolineas Argentinas AR1915, all the way from Doha and a stop-off in Rome.
The players are expected to spend a few hours at Argentina Football Association (AFA) facilities near the airport before heading at noon to the huge Obelisco monument in the centre of town, where hundreds of thousands are likely to gather.
* All the World Cup groups, fixtures and results here
* All the World Cup news here
* All the World Cup squads here
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WATCH | Crowds gather in Buenos Aires as Messi steps off plane with trophy
Image: Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images
Huge crowds were gathering as world champions Argentina stepped off the plane back home in Buenos Aires with the World Cup trophy at around 3.30am local time (8.30am SA time) on Tuesday morning.
Star player and 2022 World Cup Golden Ball winner Lionel Messi was first off the plane with the trophy as the players were cheered onto the tarmac by family members and airport and flight staff.
Argentina — who beat France on penalties in Sunday night's thrilling 2022 World Cup final in Lusail Staduim, Qatar, to become world champions for the first time since 1986 — were set for a huge parade through the city.
A million people flooded the streets of Buenos Aires after the final on Sunday.
Sunday's final, which ended 2-2 after normal time and 3-3 after extra time was hailed as perhaps the greatest ever last match of a World Cup. Argentina won the shoot-out 4-2.
Thousands of ecstatic fans gave Argentina's squad a hero's welcome in the early hours before dawn on Tuesday after the plane touched down at Ezeiza airport.
The Argentine capital has been in party mode since their dramatic victory over France in Sunday's final in Qatar, which gave the country its first World Cup win since Diego Maradona hoisted the trophy 36 years ago.
Joyous fans sang to the beat of a drum and fireworks lit up the sky as the bus slowly wound its way through the crowd.
The players, wearing their gold winners' medals around their necks and taking turns to hold the World Cup trophy aloft, waved at fans from an open-top bus on their way out of the airport as the lights from thousands of mobile phones sparkled and flags fluttered in the crowd.
Thousands had tracked the plane, the state airline Aerolineas Argentinas AR1915, all the way from Doha and a stop-off in Rome.
The players are expected to spend a few hours at Argentina Football Association (AFA) facilities near the airport before heading at noon to the huge Obelisco monument in the centre of town, where hundreds of thousands are likely to gather.
* All the World Cup groups, fixtures and results here
* All the World Cup news here
* All the World Cup squads here
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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