Night walk through Palermo: Celebrations and urban trekking following Argentina's victory

Type of activity: Urban trekking (City-trekking) | Low-intensity steady-state urban walk (LISS)

Modality: Active and contemplative journey

Start and end point: Plaza Italia, Palermo (CABA)

There are nights when the city does not sleep, but rather pulses to the rhythm of a collective joy. Following the victory of the Argentine National Team against Switzerland in the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup, we set out to walk the streets of Palermo to capture that festive tide from a city-trekking perspective.
Our itinerary began and ended at Plaza Italia, completing a circular circuit that combined major avenues, illuminated landmarks, and the vibrant pulse of the fans.

Step-by-step route

1. The fervor at Av. Santa Fe and Thames

Although the match ended around midnight, by 1:30 in the morning the streets were still overflowing. At the corner of Av. Santa Fe and Thames, a large crowd gathered to celebrate with a very unique dynamic: without permanently blocking traffic, every red traffic light transformed the street into an instant party filled with chants, flags, and cheering. When the light turned green, the crowd respectfully cleared the way for vehicles. An intense snapshot with a touch of adrenaline given the size of the crowd, but fortunately peaceful and festive.

2. From the silence of the Fan Fest to the glow of the Monumento a los Españoles

We walked down Av. Sarmiento toward Av. del Libertador. We expected to find a large crowd at the corner where the official Fan Fest operated, but by that hour the crowd had already dispersed to other parts of the city.
However, the stretch was well worth it: the Monumento a los Españoles looked stunning, bathed in a display of light blue lights playing against the white marble of its structure, forming a monumental Argentine flag in the middle of the night.

3. The flow toward the Obelisco

Skirting Av. del Libertador, the movement never stopped: groups on foot headed down toward the lower part of the city, while an uninterrupted caravan of cars, honking horns, and waving flags advanced toward the Obelisco, the epicenter of the local celebrations.

4. Closing the circuit

We began our return by walking up Jerónimo Salguero, connecting with Av. Scalabrini Ortíz, and finally taking Av. Santa Fe back to complete the loop at Plaza Italia.

Street celebrations: Shared joy

Walking through the city on nights like this allows one to appreciate the sheer scale of community gathering. As journalist Andrés Burgo eloquently reflects in his book Nuestro Mundial (Aguilar, 2023), regarding Argentine streets during the World Cup:
"I don't know what his memory of his first World Cup will be, or if World Cups will also become a grid for him to measure time in his life, but—while waiting for that—I love that my image of Qatar 2022 is this: one kid lifting another kid up, thousands of people hugging in the street, with or without jerseys, celebrating a shared joy that seemed too big to fit inside their bodies."

Urban trekking not only allows us to exercise and discover the city's architecture, but also to be front-row witnesses and chroniclers of the cultural and social life that defines Buenos Aires.

Wikiloc track: https://es.wikiloc.com/rutas-senderismo/walk-through-palermo-caba-world-cup-argentina-vs-switzerland-287852118