Since Sunday, when Argentina defeated France to win their third World Cup title and first in 36 years, the football-crazed country has been flooded with joyous celebrations.

Millions of fans rushed to the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday to celebrate Argentina's World Cup victory, causing a planned parade route to be disrupted and prompting Lionel Messi and his teammates to leave an open-top bus in favour of flying over the city in helicopters.

Since Sunday, when Argentina defeated France to win their third World Cup title and first in 36 years, the football-crazed country has been flooded with joyous celebrations. According to Clarin, when masses surrounded the team bus upon arrival at 3 a.m. at the airport, the scheduled drive through the city at lunchtime was disrupted by at least 4 million people in the streets.

A social media video showed a supporter jumping from a bridge onto the team van carrying Messi, while another missed the vehicle and fell into the throng. Around the same time, Chiqui Tapia, the chairman of the Football Association, said that they would be unable to proceed by bus and apologised to those who arrived early.

Enzo Fernandez, a team midfielder, shared a picture of himself wearing a headphone in a helicopter, and a presidential spokesman said the players were flying over the throng because the roads were jammed due to the "explosion of euphoria."

After President Alberto Fernandez declared a national holiday for the celebrations, crazy images on local TV showed people packing highway bridges, climbing lamp poles and automobiles, and chanting and waving shirts and flags around the 46-million-strong country. Poor preparation and security failure to safeguard the team bus will almost certainly result in finger-pointing in the aftermath.

The event offers Argentines with a much-needed distraction from the country's economic crisis, which includes rising inflation, a sinking currency, and severe capital controls.

To avoid mixing politics with sports, the players have been reluctant to interact with government officials. The football federation had earlier in the day ruled out a visit to the presidential residence. When their jet arrived down at the international airport in the early hours of Tuesday, Messi did not greet Interior Minister Eduardo de Pedro, who was waiting for the squad on the runway

Argentina's political environment is fiercely heated, and a photo of politicians with Messi, a local icon generally regarded as one of the best players of all time, might have unanticipated ramifications ahead of October's general elections. As yearly inflation approaches 100%, the ruling Peronist coalition's support ratings have fallen.