Watch: Lionel Messi nearly hit by overhead cable during Argentina's open-top bus celebration
Lionel Messi was inches away from being knocked off the back of an open-top bus after returning to Argentina with the World Cup.
Messi and four team-mates, including Leandro Paredes and Angel Di Maria, were sitting on the back of the bus when it passed under an overhead power line in Buenos Aires. Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo De Paul noticed the cable with a moment to spare and told his team-mates to duck.
The incident occurred as Argentina supporters partied into the night and welcomed their World Cup-winning team home at about 2am in the morning.
Footage of the players' near-miss shows the cable knocking off one player's baseball cap. Messi, who was holding the World Cup trophy at the time, seemed to laugh off the incident.
¡CUIDADO CON LOS CABLES MUCHACHOS! Insólito momento en la llegada de los campeones del mundo a Argentina.
Se le voló la gorra a Leandro Paredes. pic.twitter.com/mUfGmOTQdU— ESPN Argentina (@ESPNArgentina) December 20, 2022
The commentator in the clip above says: "What a moment! Be careful, boys!"
Later on Tuesday, Messi shared a picture of him in bed with the World Cup trophy. Within an hour the post had gathered more than 15m likes.
Argentina's govenment have made Tuesday a bank holiday so that fans can join celebrations around the country. The players themselves are expected to be take the world cup trophy to the Obelisk monument in the centre of Buenos Aires, where victories throughout he tournament were celebrated by gigantic crowds.
It is estimated that more than a million fans gathered in the centre of the city for the party that started when Argentina beat France in a penalty shootout at the end of a dramatic final on Sunday.
Messi, 35, has announced that the final was his last match in the World Cup though he intends to play a few more games for the national side.
Meanwhile in France, the national team returned from Qatar to the acclaim of huge crowds in Paris.
A coach carrying stars including Kylian Mbappe, whose hat-trick in the final brought France back from the edge of defeat, journeyed from the Paris airport - where staff applauded them as they got off the plane - and into the heart of the capital where thousands gathered to greet them.
Despite it being a drab and chilly December evening, several thousands had congregated at Paris' Place de la Concorde.
Fans let off fireworks, waved French tricolore flags and chanted "Allez Les Bleus" and the French national anthem as the team appeared on the balcony of the prestigious Hotel de Crillon.
Coach Didier Deschamps and team captain Hugo Lloris waved to the crowds from the balcony. They were later joined by the rest of the squad and Mbappe, who drew a huge roar from the crowd.
