After 36 years Argentina won a World Cup final again.
Sparking a football carnival on the streets of Buenos Aires.
Four million people on the street, or five million, no one knows exactly.
A demonstration how much football matters to this country.
Football here is a religion.
More than anywhere else in the world, it seems.
There is hardly any other country in the world where football is a matter of life or death!
As I found out on the very day of the 2022 World Cup final in Buenos Aires.
When big emotions came to town, washing away everything else.
But why?
I came here to Buenos Aires to find out more about this extreme form of passion.
What does this tell us about fandom as a whole?
Why are people football fans?
What is the real power of football?
Chapter One: The day of the final.
Well, the day started quietly.
Thousands gathered in parks to watch the final against France on giant screens.
They came to cheer for Argentina.
The first indicator of a religion - their spiritual leader is a Jesus-like figure.
There are some fans who want Argentina to win because of just one man.
I wonder: is it all about this dude or is it about the whole team?
Messi, the Messiah, attracted football fans from all over that day.
Take this guy from Australia.
Or these folks from Israel.
"Why do you all wear Messi jerseys?"
“Because he’s the God of football.“ “It’s the heart of the team.”
Messi alone is a religion, it seems.
But not just him. As the rest of the day would show.
The fans belted out the Argentinian national anthem as if there were no tomorrow.
And soon: total excitement.
Penalty for Argentina.
Complete mayhem, the air gets filled with some kind of foam, the passion is real.
But then also these scenes:
France come back from being 2-0 down, out of nowhere.
Grown-up people in despair, in tears, in deep frustration.
Voodoo-like gestures.
From screams of joy to a feeling that death is imminent.
But wait…
3-2 to Argentina in extra-time.
And these fellows cry like they only will again the day their kids will be born.
The passion is not just real, but even somewhat unreal.
There’s another goal for France, and then, penalties.
Nail-biting suspense.
Until this shot delivered Argentina the World Cup.
So what we’re going to do is, we’re gonna go there.
Because there’ll be a hell of a party, I believe.
Argentina’s triumph sparked an atmosphere reminiscent of a revolution.
Millions flocked towards the city’s heart, the Obelisk.
It was infectious, I felt like singing along and hugging random people.
A historic day. But in the middle of all these lunatics I thought again:
How on earth can football be the spark for all this?
Let’s first ask the Argentinians.
And then let’s see if there is any relevance for the rest of humanity, too.
Chapter Two: The day after
Public transport was back on, and so was life.
The party seemed to have ended, although the streets were looking very hungover.
Still, this seems to be a good moment to ask people with a bit of distance maybe…
why yesterday was Armageddon.
The first hint comes from a prolific Argentinian football writer: Marcela Mora y Araujo.
She is in a lucky position.
She witnessed all three Argentinian World Cup titles so far: 1978, 1986, and 2022.
Argentina, in fact, has the second-largest number of immigrants in the world.
Second only to the United States.
Ahead of countries such as Canada, Brazil and Australia.
Argentina saw massive waves of immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Tango become the dance of all the different folks that had newly arrived.
But other than that, this melting pot often lacked a common denominator.
And this is where football came in.
As a national symbol often stronger than anything else in the country
Genuine joy and unity.
Even for those who saw their own teams defeated by Argentina in Qatar.
I met Emma from France in Buenos Aires.
Her country lost the 2022 final.
A total minority and she still felt like singing along with the champions.
Ok, one point has been made so far: football passion equals a feeling of unity in Argentina.
Football was introduced to Argentina in the second half of the 19th century
by, of course, British immigrants.
The first league was contested in 1891.
The oldest league in the world outside of Great Britain.
The epic Argentinian figures Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi did not grow out of a country
with no football tradition.
But when speaking to Argentinians, there are also other explanations to be heard.
There are many open wounds in Argentina.
One for example is the military dictatorship the country lived through from 1976 to 1983.
While people were being killed by the regime, Argentina won their home World Cup in 1978.
Another wound: repeated economic crises, hitting the country hard
Football can help provide role models on how to survive.
Argentina’s inflation reached the highest peak in decades in 2022.
But it is a problem that has been around for a long time.
Already in 2001, there was a severe crisis.
People took to the streets and looted supermarkets.
Now, COVID and Russia’s war against Ukraine has made an already difficult situation worse.
Four out of ten Argentinians lived below the poverty line during the World Cup in Qatar.
In such a reality, football is also symbolic.
Such as when Gonzalo Montiel converted the decisive penalty of the World Cup final.
The son of a construction worker and a cleaner, from a humble background.
Visibility - another reason that makes Argentinians proud when they win the World Cup.
And even more so if they win it against a country like France.
Chapter Three: Let’s dive a bit deeper, still.
If possible.
Maybe the mayhem in Argentina when they win the World Cup tells us even more.
More about the importance of 22 people chasing a ball around on a field.
Does football also tap into national psyches outside of Argentina?
I guess if we look closely enough, yes.
Take Germany, host of the 2006 World Cup.
A country that could finally feel comfortable waving its own flag again.
60 years after it set the world on fire.
Take France in 1998, World Cup hosts and winners.
When it celebrated its own diversity as an immigrant country.
Or take Morocco in 2022.
A team that served as a sort of pan-Arabian source of pride.
Appealing to an entire region and to many around the world.
But still, let’s not exaggerate the power of football.
Big business for sure, but then again there are these very special moments.
When it seems like the World Cup really is for the players and the fans.
Briefly at least.
If you are Argentinian, by nationality or any other connection you might feel,
let us know in the comments what you think.
Also, if you’re football-crazy and from any other country around the world, please
don’t hesitate to give me your take on the real power of football.
Thanks for watching.
Congratulations and Felicitaciones to Argentina!