World Champions: One Year Later, Argentina Still Dreams of that December Night in Qatar

After a wait of more than 36 years, Argentina became world champions with a dramatic penalty shoot-out that ended with Gonzalo Montiel's strike, sending Argentina into a days-long frenzy that paralyzed the South American country and even some parts of the world.

One year since Lionel Messi and company lifted Argentina's third FIFA World Cup title in the city of Doha, Qatar, we look at how much it meant to Argentinians and soccer fans around the globe.

The moment Argentina's captain lifted that golden trophy, claiming a world title that had eluded him for most of his career, the life of lots of people changed forever. New generations of Argentine's saw their country conquer the world for the first time, as the older generations rejoiced and relived those moments of euphoria they experienced during the 1978 and 1986 titles. But not even those past memories prepared for what Lionel Scaloni's team unleashed when they defeated France in Doha.

According to numbers from the Buenos Aires police and other Argentine entities, more than a million people rushed the streets of the countries capital to celebrate the World Cup title.

Even though that sounds like a lot of people, it ended up being a miniscule celebration compared to what happened just a couple of days later, when the entire Argentina national team toured the countries capital, presenting the trophy to their people. More than four million people covered every inch of asphalt of the Buenos Aires streets as their heroes saluted them from the top of their bus.

The euphoria was such, that the vehicle that transported the team took hours to run the projected route, as waves of passionate fans surrounded their heroes. The tour had to be cancelled, unfortunately, after two individuals jumped off a bridge in an attempt to land on top of the team's bus that carried players, staff and their families.

The city of Buenos Aires wasn't the only one that hosted big celebrations after the game. The Arc de Trionf in Barcelona was covered in 'Albiceleste' flags and Messi jerseys as about 14,000 people joined the massive celebrations.

In the United States, cities such as New York and Miami also saw a big number of people take on the streets with their blue and white jerseys.

As it was expected, Lionel Messi's anticipated picture with the World Cup trophy set an incredible World Guiness Record, as his Instagram post became the most liked picture in the history of the social media platform.

The colorful and passionate legions that followed the 'Albiceleste' during the 2022 World Cup also received a recognition from FIFA, as they were the recipients of last year's FIFA The Best Fan Award.

During the month-long competition, the Argentina faithful developed an anthem that went viral all around the globe. In a soccer adaptation of the song "Muchachos" by Argentine band La Mosca Tse Tse, fans bonded over the lyrics and serenated their heroes at every Argentina match in Qatar.

The song, originally released in 2003, quickly became a fan favorite and even the players jumped into the "Muchachos" wagon, singing the chant as Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 in the World Cup semifinals.

According to research from Spotify, La Mosca Tse-Tse's original song, "Muchachos, Ahora Nos Volvimos a Ilusionar" saw a 4,300% increase in its global streams during Argentina's run. That number was even higher in the South American country, as the record saw its streams spike at a 5,300% rate.

One year later, stories about the heroics at the Lusail Stadium are still resurfacing the internet, as people recount where they were and how they felt when Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup trophy, putting an end to their 36-year-old dream.