Meet the SPECIAL plane carrying football champion Lionel Messi and Argentina's FIFA World Cup Trophy

The Rome-Buenos Aires leg of the plane carrying world champions Argentina and Lionel Messi is one of the longest flights operated by an Airbus A330 and will take more than 13.5 hrs.

Image: Twitter

The FIFA World Cup 2022 winners team Argentina and its star Lionel Messi are on their way back to Buenos Aires after lifting the prestigious trophy on December 18, 2022 (Sunday) after thrashing France in the finals. The team is being transported in a special private plane operated by Aerolíneas Argentinas wearing a unique livery featuring Team Argentina and its players. The airline is operating an Airbus A330 plane with LV-FVH registration plate. 

Not only the livery, but this plane is special in many ways! Operating from Doha to Buenos Aires, the flight will travel via Rome covering 11,135 km. The Rome-Buenos Aires leg is one of the longest flights operated by an Airbus A330 and will take more than 13.5 hrs.

The most tracked flight right now is a French built aircraft flying to Argentina...https://t.co/1hk0cAeBPB pic.twitter.com/2ll2zgzqqO — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 20, 2022

As per various flight tracking websites, including Flight Radar 24 among others, the Airbus is currently the most tracked flight in the world. More than 25,000 people are live tracking the flight on Flight Radar 24. 

As per the website, not just this particular plane, but all planes to Argentina are being tracked in high numbers by avgeeks. Lionel Messi, who helped Argentina win their third world cup also shared a picture of him sitting inside the plane with the World Cup trophy.  

As per the latest update, members of the team, led by captain Lionel Messi, landed in Argentina and were all smiles as they descended from the plane in Ezeiza, right outside Argentina’s capital, shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday. Messi was the first player from the plane carrying the World Cup, flanked by coach Lionel Scaloni, who put his arm around the captain as they walked past a sign that read, “Thank you, champions.”

Vamos Argentina Un orgullo traer a los Campeones del mundo a casa.  pic.twitter.com/NboocGdyP3 — Aerolíneas Argentinas (@Aerolineas_AR) December 20, 2022

As the plane got closer to Argentine soil, almost 200,000 people were tracking its path online and news channels gave live coverage of the arrival. In the afternoon, people started arriving at the airport and outside the AFA headquarters in hopes of getting a glimpse of the team.

Several players posted photos of the plane ride on social media. Messi held the World Cup on the plane. Nicolás Tagliafico, meanwhile, posted a photo of the World Cup buckled into an airplane seat as if it were just another passenger.

With AP inputs