This is the dramatic moment Lionel Messi and his teammates came close to being knocked off the back of their open-top bus moments after returning to Argentina to celebrate their World Cup win against France.
Video shows Messi and four teammates including Leandro Paredes and Angel Di Maria being forced to duck under an overhead power cable at the last second as they drove slowly through a sea of jubilant Argentinian fans.
The fans lined the streets in the middle of the night to try to get a glimpse of the victorious Argentina football team as they made their way through Buenos Aires on an open-top bus.
Video shows Messi and four teammates including Leandro Paredes and Angel Di Maria being forced to duck under an overhead power cable at the last second as they drove slowly through a sea of jubilant Argentinian fans
This is the dramatic moment Lionel Messi and his teammates came close to being knocked off the back of their open-top bus moments after returning to Argentina to celebrate their World Cup win against France
The five teammates ducked down low to avoid being knocked off the open-top bus by the cable
Footage of the near-miss with the cable showed Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo de Paul spotting it at the last-minute and alerting his teammates to duck down.
The five teammates ducked down low to avoid being knocked off the open-top bus by the cable.
Leandro Paredes was perched on the edge of the top deck of the bus but managed to keep his balance despite having to quickly move to avoid the cable.
He ducked down just in time but lost his baseball cap when the cable hit the top of his head.
Messi, clutching the World Cup from his high-up position in the middle of the group of five Argentinian players, took the scare in his stride and could be seen laughing off the shock as best he could as the vehicle inched through the crowds either side of the carriageway with a police escort.
Messi, clutching the World Cup from his high-up position in the middle of the group of five Argentinian players, took the scare in his stride and could be seen laughing off the shock
Lionel Messi and teammates Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez celebrate on the open-top bus in Buenos Aires on Tuesday
The fans lined the streets in the middle of the night to try to get a glimpse of the victorious Argentina football team as they made their way through Buenos Aires on an open-top bus
Argentina’s players celebrate on board a bus with supporters today as they leave Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires
Heroes’ welcome: Tens of thousands turned out in the middle of the night to cheer the triumphant players
An Argentinian journalist commenting on the scare said: ‘Paredes has just lost his cap. What a moment. Be careful boys.’
Earlier, the team smiled broadly as they descended from their plane in Ezeiza, just outside Buenos Aires, shortly before 3am on Tuesday onto a red carpet.
Messi was the first player from the plane carrying the World Cup, flanked by coach Lionel Scaloni, who put his arm around the captain as they walked past a sign that read: ‘Thank you, champions.’
The players were welcomed by rock band La Mosca singing ‘Muchachos,’ a song that was written by a fan to the tune of an old song by the band and became a popular unofficial anthem for Argentine fans at the World Cup in Qatar.
The newly crowned champions boarded the open-top bus and several, including Messi, could be seen singing the words to ‘Muchachos’ as they headed to the headquarters of the Argentine Football Association.
The bus moved at a snail’s pace as fans, many of whom were waving Argentine flags, swarmed the bus on a highway, eager for a glimpse of the players as law enforcement officers tried to keep them at bay.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala, Lautaro Martinez, Leandro Paredes and Rodrigo De Paul celebrate their World Cup win on Tuesday
Argentina’s players celebrate on board a bus with supporters after winning the Qatar 2022 World Cup tournament
Messi was the first player from the plane carrying the World Cup, flanked by coach Lionel Scaloni, who put his arm around the captain as they walked past a sign that read: ‘Thank you, champions.’
Lionel Messi led his team off the plane after they landed in Buenos Aires on Tuesday
The players will sleep at AFA headquarters for a few hours before boarding the bus later on Tuesday that will take them to the Obelisk, the iconic Buenos Aires landmark that was a sea of people Sunday afternoon after the team won the country’s third World Cup, and its first since 1986.
President Alberto Fernández declared a national holiday Tuesday so the country could celebrate the victory.
The day after the streets of Argentina turned into massive parties following the Sunday victory, many kept a close eye on the flight that brought the players home to celebrate.
As the plane got closer to Argentine soil, almost 200,000 people were tracking its path online and news channels gave live coverage of the arrival.
In the afternoon, people started arriving at the airport and outside the AFA headquarters in hopes of getting a glimpse of the team.
Many were also already at the Obelisk, seemingly ready to spend the night there to ensure a prime spot for Tuesday’s festivities.
The World Cup and the success of the Messi-led squad has brought much-needed good news for a country that has been stuck in economic doldrums for years, is suffering one of the world’s highest inflation rates and where almost four-in-10 people live in poverty.