Argentines explode with joy after champions
Watching football icon Lionel Messi inspire Argentina to World Cup glory on Sunday made the economic suffering engulfing the country "worth it," according to ecstatic fans.
Argentina beat France 4-2 in penalty kicks and won the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Fireworks cracked, car horns sounded and fans draped in the national blue and white colours sang, danced and waved flags.
An estimated two million people converged around the iconic Obelisk in central Buenos Aires as the party raged long into the warm night on the shores of the River Plate.
It is the traditional site for Argentines to celebrate sporting victories in the capital.
Once Argentina's victory was confirmed, tens of thousands of people descended on the Obelisk, stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction and producing a constant cacophony of sound.
The joy was tangible but there was also palpable relief after a 36-year wait to add a third world title.
In Rosario, the home town of Messi and Angel Di Maria, Argentina's other final goalscorer on Sunday, fans of rival teams Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central buried their differences and cheered shoulder to shoulder.
Many eager Argentine fans -- almost all wearing the national team's blue and white striped jersey -- had started queueing up at restaurants before they opened to get the best seats to watch the highly-anticipated match-up on large television screens hours later.
