Argentina abandon World Cup parade in favour of helicopter after fans reportedly jump from bridge towards bus

The World Cup winning Argentina squad had to abandon a celebratory bus parade after they were unable to get through the huge crowd of supporters.

Argentina came world champions in perhaps the most dramatic and entertaining final, in Qatar on Sunday. A hat-trick from Kylian Mbappe was not enough for France to defeat Argentina, inspired by Lionel Messi and helped by Emiliano Martinez’s gamesmanship, in the decisive penalty shootout.

After the death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, the pressure to deliver Messi a world title before his retirement, and the almost four decades since their last World Cup triumph, it was perhaps no surprise that crowds flocked to receive the triumphant players.

The convoy left at 11:40am from the AFA stadium, and started their journey past attendees, some of whom had waited 24 hours for the occasion

However, soon it became clear that it was impossible to make progress through the oceans of fans, and they decided instead to continue their journey by helicopter.

Argentine FA president Claudio Tapia explained the decision.

“They don’t let us get to greet all the people who were at the Obelisk, the same security agencies that escorted us don’t allow us to move forward,” he wrote.
“A thousand apologies on behalf of all the champion players. A shame.”

Before the journey was stopped, manager Lionel Scaloni and the Argentine players sang from an open top bus, with a strong security presence given the sheer numbers of the public around them.

They had arrived from Qatar at 2.30am that morning and went to the AFA (Argentine Football Association) offices in Ezeiza to rest before the celebrations kicked off.

However with the intensity of the celebrations around them, with reports of some fans attempting to jump onto the bus from a bridge above part of the route, the motorcycle patrols alongside were deemed insufficient to keep the players safe and able to get to the eventual destination.

That led to players instead travelling via air.