by Facundo Iglesia, Florencia Pessarini and Mario Santucho

A new year full of sorrow was ending in Argentina when, all of a sudden, we experienced the most glorious national event of this century. The national football team won the World Cup, unleashing an unprecedented explosion of joy. The dream went out to the streets. There was such joy that most people could only cry out of disbelief, their eyes gushing, almost like an exorcism.   

The first chapter of crowds pouring onto the streets happened on December 18 as soon as Gonzalo Montiel’s penalty kissed the back of the net, 13.278 kilometers away from home, in Doha. But the apotheosis took place two days later when five million people —  in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area alone — welcomed back the team that had won the hearts of the people. 

The following is an attempt at a collective and panoramic reconstruction based on diverse accounts — just a few out of the five million protagonists. 

“Considering that  Argentina’s NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM is returning to the country on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, and with the goal of allowing the Argentine people to celebrate in peace and unity, sharing the joy with our players and the managing crew, it is proper to declare the day a National Holiday”.  

Decree 842/2022, December 19.

Aerolíneas Argentinas flight 1915 landed in Ezeiza on December 20 at 2:23 am. The sheer number of people gathered along the four kilometers between the airport and the Argentine Football Association (AFA) campus in the middle of the night foreshadowed the excesses that would take place just a few hours later, once the players were able to rest for a brief moment. A meeting was held before dawn between the AFA authorities and the security ministers of the country, Buenos Aires province, and Buenos Aires City. It ended abruptly and without any clear agreements.

“Jorge” [alias, Buenos Aires City Security Ministry]: It was agreed that federal forces would be responsible for the capsule around the bus. The idea was to […] drive around the Obelisk, and then return to the Ezeiza premises. They established a series of routes that would end up being useless.

Claudio Zabala [bus driver]: The eyes of the entire world were set on that bus. I’ve been doing this job for almost 34 years, but this trip was different. It was a special trip. 

Jonatan Andreani [producer at C5N network]: There were many different reports on the route the world champions would take. No one knew for sure. 

Zabala: I didn’t have information about the route. Wherever the police escort motorcycles went, I followed behind. 

We’re still shocked by the footage of sports stars who have played in Europe for years, all of them millionaires, drinking Fernet or wine with Coke in chopped plastic bottles, topless under the hot sun of Greater Buenos Aires, surrounded by an uncontained human mass simmering a few inches away from the champions. 

Matías Manna [national team video analyst]: The players were the real protagonists, the ones who were supposed to receive all that massive support and the celebration. I was there [in the bus] with the managing staff.

Zabala: The players already knew us because we drove them a million times. It’s a double-decker bus with its roof cut off, and it’s used for events. We took away all the seats so they could stand up and wave at the people. I didn’t have much contact with them because I was down in the driver’s cockpit. And they were on top. 

Flora Genoux [Le Monde correspondent]: There were a lot of families, kids, a wonderful broadcast experience: from the father who had lived the triumph in 1986 when he was five or six years old and wanted his very young son to experience a World Cup win. It was an inter-generational celebration. 

Daniela Gian [C5N reporter]: I remember a family with lots of kids who had rearranged a delivery truck with mattresses. They slept there on the Ricchieri highway […] They had lounge chairs on the top of the truck so they could be “as high as possible.” I remember the kids’ excitement mostly. They wanted to see Messi.

Genoux: I always wanted the national team to win; I never felt torn over divided loyalties. I’ve been living in Argentina for eight years, and I think many immigrants felt the same as me. At no point did I feel any hostility, even as a French person. 

Facundo Ballesta [photographer from Villa Celina]: People in the neighborhood from the Bolivian community came waving two flags, the Argentine and the Bolivian, as a demonstration of brotherhood. We were all good that day; there was no beef with anyone.

Zabala: There were some stretches in which we were moving at a walking pace, sometimes even stopping. There were so many people that we couldn’t go any faster. I saw the people waving, happy. But I couldn’t see ahead of me. 

Manna: At one point, I started to play paper rock scissors [from the bus] with some of the kids. It just came naturally to me.  

Zabala: I was trying to focus on driving and not running over anyone. People were so happy they were reckless. They wanted to touch the bus — the bus of the world champions.  

Ballesta: That bus wasn’t a bus; it was a ball of energy. People started to lose control, sing, and scream. They started to ignite flares. There were parked cars all over, shops were overwhelmed.  

The climax of the day took place 10 blocks from General Paz Avenue, right on the border between Villa Madero and Villa Celina, in La Matanza district, when the convertible bus passed under the Olavarría Bridge and two people jumped into it. One fell into the bus, and the other miscalculated and crashed into the pavement. It was at that moment that the players decided to interrupt the caravan and find an aerial escape route.

Zabala: They told me, “Open the door so we can get him off the bus.” I didn’t even know who the person was. Since we were moving so slowly, we opened the door and got him off. I only learned about it when I saw it on TV [laughs] The people’s euphoria was definitely something…he wanted to touch the players, so he jumped. 

Gian: Military planes were flying above us. You could tell they were figuring out what to do and looking for a way out. 

“Jorge”: When the bus got to Buenos Aires City, we were asked to clear a way for them so they could reach the Federal Police Cadets School, and so we did.

Zabala: When the motorcycles stopped, we had reached a place we didn’t know. The players got off and left. 

Gian: People left quickly after they went through. There was no disappointment; that was really surprising. They sang “We saw Messi, f*ck yeah,” even when they had seen the bus from really far away [laughs].

Daniel Barzola [Prefecture pilot]: I had already finished my shift that day. I went home after the next crew took over, and when I got there, my colleague called me and said I had to go back as soon as possible. I had the phone on speaker while I was taking off my backpack, so my partner also heard the call. Their eyes lit up. They looked at me and said: “Go.”. And I’ll be honest…I smiled. 

Abandoned house

“The CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD will leave on Tuesday at noon towards the Obelisk to celebrate the win with the fans. Yes, we are WORLD CHAMPIONS!”. 

National Team’s X account, December 19, 11:42

The protagonists’ refusal to crown the celebration at the Casa Rosada had enormous political significance, although its motives and reasons are not entirely clear, since those who made the decision never explained it publicly. People with knowledge of football politics undoubtedly point out the terrible relationship between [former] President Alberto Fernández and Claudio Fabián “Chiqui” Tapia, head of AFA. “Alberto disregarded him several times and Chiqui waited until now to get payback.” However, an important government official confirmed that in addition to Tapia, Lionel Messi himself always refrained from being “pulled into” politics: “He is neither right-wing nor left-wing, he just prefers to keep his distance.”

At the national government headquarters, people kept hoping for a long-awaited photo, because the executive secretary of AFA, Pablo Toviggino, who is close to [former] Economy Minister Sergio Massa, promised until the last minute that the players would go to the Rosada. As time went by and the visit was not confirmed, the President of the Republic sent a message to AFA management: “You can come and just use the balcony, without any meeting, reception or photo with the authorities.” Sources from inside the Casa Rosada say they had even prepared a set of medals with the name of each team member, in addition to an entire catering service, and they had even set up a stage in Plaza de Mayo.

Julio Vitobello [Secretary General of the Office of the President]: After the match against Croatia we officially invited the team, no matter what would happen in the final, so they would come to the Government House when they returned to the country. We never got an answer. 

Juan [fan]: We were all looking at our WhatsApp. When they officially confirmed the players would go to the Rosada, we were already there in Plaza de Mayo. Fifteen minutes later, all the people in the streets started to arrive, all of them, all of them, I don’t know how many we were, all of a sudden it was so crowded you couldn’t stand, and it was so hot that day…

There had been a meeting between the Security Minister and Tapia earlier that morning with nothing to show for it. Although there hadn’t been any official answers or actual confirmation, some media outlets said on air and social media that the players were going to the Casa Rosada.

Juan: Everyone started to celebrate when the hydrant truck came. They were ecstatic. They sprayed water but only on those in the front. Those of us around the middle didn’t get any. We bought water bottles from a street vendor. 500 bucks a bottle!

“Alex” [alias, Casa Rosada employee]: It was the most normal thing in the world, people were dying of heat. It would have been inhumane not to. It was crucial so people didn’t pass out, we wouldn’t have had the infrastructure to take care of everyone. It’s 35 degrees out, spray some water! [laughs]

In the end, Alberto Fernández stayed in Olivos and the presidential helicopter joined the fleet that ended up rescuing the champions. Echoes of 2001 in the city, but with a whole new meaning. 

Barzola: As soon as they got on the aircraft, I said to them “Welcome, champions. It’s a pleasure to be here with you”

Genoux: There was already a rumor that they might fly over the area. Then we saw it and the people — somewhat confused and excited — started to run after the helicopter which made no sense, but people were eager to get close to them. 

Barzola: They were sort of joking with us. They’d say “Hey, where are we going? Where are you taking us? [laughs] I told them the plan was to fly over the main roads that would lead to the area of 9 de Julio and the Obelisco, and Plaza de Mayo, where all the people were. The trip was 20-25 minutes and they were chanting non-stop. [Nahuel] Molina had a güiro, some people call it a grater. 

Camila [fan]: We got to the middle of the square and we saw the helicopter fly by. We looked up when everyone started doing the same, it was crazy, very collective, like no one knew anything and we were all doing what others did [laugh].

Barzola: We went down, keeping a sufficient margin of safety. We were holding at approximately a thousand feet, approximately 330 meters. At times we got lower and went down to between 150 and 200 meters. When we got to the Obelisco area I asked them if they were ok with flying in circles as a symbolic triumph round. They really liked the idea, so we did that with another aircraft. They started to wave to people, but of course no one could see them from down there.  

Genoux: I asked people if they were disappointed and some of them said yes but others — this is so Argentine, to turn a bad situation into something nice — said “We’re here for the celebration anyway.” 

Party’s Over

Thank you God for all this. As I said, I knew you would grant this to me. What I couldn’t imagine was all that came after achieving it, and I wasn’t wrong, because I could have never imagined the excitement of the people during the celebrations.

Instagram post by @leomessi on January 18, 2023, a month after the win.

The celebrations went on throughout the day and continued beyond nightfall until the Buenos Aires City government decided that it was time to restore order and unleashed a repressive raid from the Obelisco to Constitución. 

Camila: We walked back around 10.30 pm and the entire 9 de Julio was deserted, like a post-apocalypse scenario. Lots of police hitting people and chasing down the remaining drunk people. An inch of shattered glass all over the street, broken shop windows, blood…

Giovanni [fan]: They had opened a door in the Obelisco, there were a lot of people. We got in. [A friend] went up through a cable to the base of the second floor. I was below. We stayed there for a while, lots of people, lots of noise, it was beautiful, everyone celebrating. And all of a sudden the police came.  

“Jorge”: [On Sunday] they cut the stairs and welded the door. Even so, people managed to break in on Tuesday. 

Giovanni: A police officer came. He yelled at us that we all had to leave because the Infantry was coming. When we were coming out they started to shoot us with rubber bullets, the Infantry started to repress from Corrientes Avenue. 

“Jorge”: When firefighters managed to bring the people down, they threw bottles and rocks at them, so the police had to protect the firemen so they could leave the place. 

Giovanni: People started to throw bottles, obviously: they were rubber bullets against whatever we had, whatever we could find on the ground. People were crazy: they shot children, elderly people, women, kids like us. 

Perhaps the political system, in any of its variants, was not able to tune into the most intense popular reverie that we remember. But something that widely transcends a football event was distilled in that kind of popular communion, abundant with symmetries, repetitions, and light anachronisms, where you could perhaps feel the seed of a nationality reset. 

Barzola: It’s not unusual to fly over and observe a demonstration, and whenever there are large ones, you can see 50,000 or 60,000 people. But seeing approximately five million people throughout the AMBA was something incredible that stays with you, it remains in your memory forever. Not only mine. It remains […] in the people’s collective unconscious, right?

Originally published in Revista Crisis. Translation by Agustín Mango, edited by Valen Iricibar.