Buenos Aires: Thousands of fans and supporters poured into the streets of the Argentina's capital city on Tuesday as the team beat Croatia on a comfortable 3-0 margin, finding way into the finals.
Soon as the match ended the streets were crowded with supporters holding Argentinian flags, wearing the national team's jersey, and singing chants of joy.
Earlier, Buenos Aires had come to a standstill on what was a scorching summer afternoon as fans packed cafes, restaurants and public plazas, where giant screens followed the exploits of the Lionel Messi-led team.
"This is the first match that didn't make me suffer, the first time I could enjoy a match from beginning to end," said a fan.
With the final match still days away, Tuesday turned into a day of joy as thousands of people descended on the capital's iconic Obelisk.
"We're all super excited, it's been so long since we've lived a happiness like this. It's beautiful, I mean look at this," said Laila Desmery, a 27-year-old actress, as she pointed to people dancing and celebrating on the street.
"It's really unexplainable the joy that we're going to be living through in the next few days."
"This was the antithesis of the last match, we won easily, with ample advantage and without moments of so much tension and stress," said Valentina González, 31, a social media manager.
In a traditional café in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo, those who had been nervously staring at the television screen exploded in jubilation when Messi scored a penalty kick, ending what had been an agonizing goalless 33 minutes.
"Messi, Messi, Messi," the crowd started chanting as they moved their arms in a worshipping ovation.
It was only five minutes later, before the crowd had even had a chance to cool down that Julián Álvarez scored an impressive goal, taking the score to 2-0.
By the second half, the crowd was ecstatic and when Álvarez, with an assist from Messi, scored a third goal, the joy overflowed with people jumping on chairs, kissing and hugging."Holding Messi by the hand, we're going to go all the way," chanted the crowd.
Argentina will now play the last match of the World Cup against either France or Morocco, who are facing off Wednesday.