Leo posted some words after the celebration at the Monumental stadium: "I have no words to explain what I feel, how grateful I am."


Four times he forgot the Cup, leaving everything on the pitch, but that elusive trophy shone bright. The fifth time was the charm. He went to Qatar to "try again," he gave his all in the World Cup, and he lifted that coveted chalice. Lionel Messi is a world champion. He is the captain of the Argentine National Team that embroidered the third star. And he returned to his country with that well-deserved prize.


Argentine fans not only wanted to see the national team win the World Cup: the great desire was to see Messi lifting the Cup. And it happened. He brought it for everyone. At the celebration at the Monumental stadium, he not only spoke, he remembered his teammates in a leadership gesture, lifted the trophy, sang and smiled; he also scored a beautiful goal for the 2-0 against Panama. Another prize for those who filled the stadium.


Messi's post after the celebration:

"I imagined many times what it would be like to return to my country as a world champion, but now I have no words to explain what I feel, how grateful I am to everyone for their love... These are very, very special days, and all I can say is that I am immensely happy to see the whole Argentine people enjoying and celebrating another success. THANK YOU!!"

Messi's special dedication in the midst of the celebration:

"I know today is our day, the day we are celebrating the champions. But I don't want to forget about all those teammates I had before, who also did everything possible to try to win this (again touching the Cup). Unfortunately, it didn't happen for us; we were very close in both the Copa America and the World Cup (in Brazil), but they deserve the respect of all the Argentine people because they gave their all for the jersey."



Messi's words:

"First of all, we want to thank you for the love we have been receiving. We have been saying it for a long time that we would do everything possible for this (while looking at and caressing the Cup)."


"Personally, I always dreamed of this moment, being able to celebrate with you (the people), being able to come to my country, Argentina, to lift a Copa America, the Finalissima as we did, and the biggest one, the World Cup."


"Let's keep doing what we're doing, let's enjoy it. We waited a long time to win it again. And we don't know how long it will take to win it again. Hopefully, it won't take too long, but it has been proven that it is very difficult to win the World Cup. It depends on many things, not just a great team, sometimes details prevent you from winning. Let's enjoy the third star. Thank you all very much."


When will the National Team play again?

Lionel Scaloni's team will continue to show off the long-awaited title won in Qatar just over three months ago. Next stop: Santiago del Estero.


The Scaloneta's second friendly will be on Tuesday, March 28, against Curacao, with no confirmed time yet. The Deportick website opened its virtual queue at 10 a.m. last Wednesday, and in just over an hour, fans snapped up all the tickets, as officially reported on the site.