International

Argentina prepares for World Cup winners’ welcome home party

Photo: TOMAS CUESTA / AFP

| By AFP | Barnaby Chesterman |

Argentines waited eagerly to welcome home their World Cup heroes on Monday as the capital prepared for a massive street party after the national team’s remarkable shoot-out victory over France.

“Crowned with glory,” read a banner on a newspaper kiosk in Buenos Aires, while Clarin and La Prensa dailies both sent a huge “Thank you” to Lionel Messi and his team-mates for winning the country’s third world title, and first in 36 years.

Argentina won the final in Qatar 4-2 on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw over 120 minutes of unparallelled drama.

The party that began after Sunday’s final was briefly on pause as local city workers continued to clean up the debris from the celebrations when millions took to the streets in jubilation.

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The team is guaranteed a white-hot reception when they land at the Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires, at 2:25 am (0525 GMT) Tuesday.

“I’m going to greet them at the airport. Now that they have been crowned we have to greet them and thank them,” Jose Luis Quinoga, 56, told AFP at the Obelisk memorial in central Buenos Aires, where the night before more than a million people celebrated.

A private reception at a VIP suite in the airport has been arranged to greet the returning players and the Argentine football association said they will celebrate with fans at the Obelisk on Tuesday.

“I will leave work and the first thing I will do is come here,” Julieta Rosel, 23, told AFP at the monument.

Local media speculated about whether the players would also head to the presidential palace, with politicians concerned about being accused of trying to capitalize on sporting success.

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Almost ‘no incidents’

Messi finally crowned his record-breaking career with football’s biggest prize as he produced one of the greatest World Cup final performances, scoring a first-half penalty and netting again in extra time.

France had fought back from 2-0 down in the last 10 minutes of the match as Kylian Mbappe scored twice to equalise and force extra time in a pulsating match watched by an 89,000 crowd in Lusail Stadium.

Messi seemed to have decided the match in extra time with his second goal of the game before his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Mbappe completed only the second World Cup final hat-trick in history to bring the score to 3-3 and force penalties.

Gonzalo Montiel swept home the decisive spot kick to win the shootout 4-2 for Argentina.

And while the players were able to celebrate with an estimated 40,000 fans inside the stadium on Sunday, 45 million people back home are eager to share the moment with them.

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“It’s what we’re all waiting for,” teacher Veronica Silva, 44, told AFP from the Plaza de Mayo in central Buenos Aires on Sunday.

Despite the huge numbers of revelers “people acted in a very positive way,” a spokesperson for the municipality said.

Fewer than 20 people were arrested for isolated incidents of violence or theft.

There were some signs of vandalism with smashed shop windows near the Obeslik, which also suffered some damage to cameras and an internal stairwell after people tore down protective barriers and broke open a door, a worker clearing debris told AFP on Monday.

Normal Monday morning life seemed to have resumed with street vendors selling their regular wares rather than football jerseys and flags.

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‘I can’t ask for more’

The disappointed France players became the last team to leave Qatar on Monday and after some confusion over their plans agreed to go and greet their fans in central Paris.

Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said the team planned to go to the Place de la Concorde in Paris after their plane touches down.

And although the chief of France’s football federation (FFF), Noel Le Graet, initially appeared to contradict the minister, the FFF later released a statement confirming the event would take place after the players’ plane lands at around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT).

The captivating final rounded off one of the most controversial World Cups in history.

Qatari organisers faced persistent questions about the country’s treatment of migrant workers and its laws on homosexuality.

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Football’s world governing body FIFA said the tournament attracted more than 3.4 million spectators, making it one of the most watched ever.

FIFA said more than one million visitors travelled to Qatar to watch the matches, in line with predictions from the Gulf state that people would not be dissuaded by the negative publicity over its rights record.

International

FBI Warns of Possible Iranian Drone Attack on U.S. West Coast

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned police departments in California about a possible Iranian plan to carry out a drone attack against the west coast of the United States, according to a report published Wednesday by ABC News.

The warning was issued through a memorandum sent to agencies participating in a Joint Terrorism Task Force, outlining the possibility of a surprise attack involving unmanned aerial vehicles launched from a vessel off the U.S. coastline.

According to the document, intelligence suggested that in early February 2026 Iran may have considered an attack against unspecified targets in California if the United States carried out airstrikes on Iranian territory.

However, the memo also noted that authorities lack additional details about the timing, method, specific targets, or individuals responsible for the alleged plan.

Reports cited by U.S. media indicate that the alert coincided with the start of a military offensive by the administration of Donald Trump against the Iran, a development that has heightened tensions across the Middle East.

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Law enforcement sources with counterterrorism experience told the Los Angeles Times that the warning is part of a routine precautionary advisory based on information from the U.S. Coast Guard.

The sources emphasized that there is no credible indication of an imminent attack and no evidence that Iran currently has the capability to successfully carry out such an operation.

California is home to the largest Iranian community in the United States. According to the Migration Policy Institute, more than half of Iranian immigrants in the country lived in the state in 2019, including around 140,000 people in Los Angeles County alone.

The city also hosts a neighborhood widely known as “Tehrangeles,” where a large Iranian community began settling in the 1960s and continued to grow following the Iranian Revolution.

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International

Trump Says Iran Is Welcome at 2026 World Cup but Warns of Security Concerns

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said Thursday that the national football team of Iran is “welcome” to participate in the 2026 World Cup, although he suggested it might be safer for the team not to take part in the tournament.

“The Iranian national soccer team is welcome at the World Cup, but I really don’t think it’s appropriate for them to be there, for their own safety,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

His comments came a day after Iran’s sports minister, Ahman Donyamali, said that there are currently no conditions for the country to participate in the tournament following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, during a military offensive launched on February 28 by Israel and the United States.

“After the corrupt government killed our leader, there are no conditions that allow us to take part in the World Cup,” the Iranian official said. He added that the country has faced two wars in the past eight or nine months, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths, making participation in the tournament unlikely.

On Tuesday, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, met with Trump at the White House.

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Following the meeting, Infantino said that Trump reiterated that Iran’s national team would be allowed to compete in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

“We discussed the current situation in Iran and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026. During the conversation, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino wrote on Instagram.

International

Iran issues threat to Trump as conflict escalates over Strait of Hormuz

The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, threatened U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, warning him to “beware of being eliminated.”

The Republican president had warned on Monday that he would strike Iran “very hard” if the Islamic Republic blocked oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed since the war began eleven days ago.

“Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Others more powerful than you tried to destroy the Iranian nation and failed. Beware that you are not eliminated,” Larijani wrote on X.

Earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards — the ideological military force of the Islamic Republic — also said their forces would move to block oil exports from the Gulf.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military offensive against Iran is far from over.

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“Our aspiration is that the Iranian people free themselves from the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, that depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the measures taken so far we are breaking their bones, and we are not finished yet,” Netanyahu said in a statement.