BUENOS AIRES — Hundreds of thousands - millions by some estimates - of ecstatic Argentines flooded onto the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday to cheer the country's World Cup-winning soccer squad led by Lionel Messi after their plane landed in the pre-dawn hours.

The team arrived in the early hours at Ezeiza airport where despite it being around 3 a.m. thousands were waiting with banners, flags and flares, and howling in joy after 36 years since the country's last World Cup victory.

Assists are often overlooked in favor of their more flashy and prominent neighbor, the goal. In many ways, they require more technique and ability than scoring a goal because finding the goal is easy. Knowing where to place a ball to find a teammate while avoiding defenders and keepers, and actually having the technical ability to do it, requires a soccer mind of the highest order. One of the greats, Andrea Pirlo, famously said, "Football is played with the head. Your feet are just tools."

Argentina fans have gone mad after winning the World Cup for the first time in 36 years.

The 3-3 extra time result taken to penalties was a thriller full of comebacks and nail-biting moments that made La Albiceleste’s third World Cup victory even sweeter for fans celebrating around the world.

The following is a look at Argentina captain Lionel Messi's career by the numbers:

499 million

Global followers on social media platforms Facebook and Instagram (over 10 times the population of Argentina)

$120 million

Fue el Mundial de Messi. El GOAT cumplió su sueño de ser campeón del mundo con Argentina, en una performance difícil de olvidar, ganada por el talento sobrenatural que llevan sus pies, la conmovedora entrega de sus compañeros en el campo de juego y también el incondicional amor de su familia en las tribunas.

For nearly 80 minutes it looked like the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final was going to be pretty straightforward. Lionel Messi and Argentina had dominated France and taken a 2-0 advantage, but Kylian Mbappé turned the game on its head over the final 10 minutes to force a thrilling extra-time period before a nerve-shredding penalty shootout.

In the end, it was undeniably the greatest World Cup final in the event's history. Argentina had played some thoroughly enjoyable football with 10 shots on target, but France made them suffer to earn a first title 1986.