“For us, every match is the same. We fight until the end and win in the end,” said shopkeeper Fabian Sidoti, 37, his cheeks painted with Argentine flags.
“Anything can happen until the last minute,” he said, urging his compatriots to “keep cheering until the last minute” when his team take on Spain on Sunday.
Fireworks started going off nearby and fans were chanting along with the beating of drums.
“For the Malvinas, for Diego, for the last of Leo,” the crowd chanted as a young man climbed a traffic light to wave the national flag.
A man wrapped head to toe in a single piece of cloth shouted: “The Malvinas are ours, so is the World Cup! Ole, ole, ole, Messi, Messi!”