All eyes on Lionel Messi in Argentina ahead of World Cup final

With Argentina reaching fever pitch just hours before Lionel Messi and his teammates take on France in the World Cup final, soccer fans throughout the country felt a sense of destiny brewing.

"I feel very proud to be Argentine, I know Messi will bring home the cup," said Franco Llanos, 22, decked out in Argentina shirt, blue and white joker's hat, draped in a flag and carrying a plastic replica of the World Cup trophy.

Carina Disanzo, 44, who was wearing Messi's number 10 jersey in the historic Boca neighborhood, said the team "absolutely" deserves to win.

"If what we all hope happens, it's going to be a huge party but even if it doesn't happen there's going to be a huge party because we're in the final with the best player in the world," she said.

The Argentine capital was a sea of blue and white jerseys, most bearing Messi's number 10, flags, painted faces, hats and other memorabilia. In some major avenues, the city council had painted pedestrian crossings in the national team's blue and white stripes.

Foreign soccer fans were also getting in on the act. English friends Josh Gwilt, 27, and Greg Layhe, 28, were traveling in Brazil but decided to switch their itinerary to Buenos Aires "on a whim."

Layhe, wearing a Messi shirt, said they had partly decided to put on their jerseys as a precaution, given the historic bad blood between England and Argentina both on and off the pitch. Even so, he said he was firmly behind Argentina, especially Messi, who has won everything in the game except this.

"We all hope he wins the World Cup, even some French fans we've spoken to have been semi-torn because it would be an amazing end to his career. I think he's the greatest player of all time and deserves to win the World Cup," said Layhe.