Fans line streets for World Champions

World champions Argentina returned home to a rapturous reception following their victory over France in Qatar on Sunday.

Fans lined the streets during the middle of the night in Buenos Aires to catch a glimpse of Lionel Messi and Co with the trophy.

Here, Football Mad takes a look at the scenes which greeted them.

Star player Lionel Messi and coach Lionel Scaloni stepped off the plane first (Gustavo Garello/AP)

Messi was all smiles (Gustavo Carello/AP)

A dummy of the World Cup trophy hung at the entrance of Argentina’s training base (Rodrigo Abd/AP)

Penalty shoot-out hero Emiliano Martinez waved to the fans (Gustavo Garello/AP)

Scaloni saluted the crowd (Matilde Campodonico/AP)

Fans lined the streets as the team paraded with the trophy (Rodrigo Abd/AP)

Goalscorer in the final, Angel Di Maria, showed the trophy to the supporters (Rodrigo Abd/AP)

Messi, Di Maria and Nicolas Otamendi enjoyed the welcome (Rodrigo Abd/AP)

Celebrations continued long into the night (Rodrigo Abd/AP)

Argentina savoured the moment (Matilde Campodonico/AP)

Police escorted the bus through thousands of fans (Rodrigo Abd/AP)