ATLANTA — The first sign Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team are in town for the Copa America opening game against Canada Thursday night? Barricades and police officers along Peachtree Street protecting the back entrance of the Westin Hotel, and a giant throng of fans in Messi jerseys surrounding an empty charter bus, waiting for a chance to get a glimpse of their beloved hero.

The scheduled training session was four hours away, but fans were camped out, desperate to see the team board the bus.

Edy and Ana Alonzo, natives of Guatemala, drove from North Augusta, South Carolina on Tuesday with their sons, Hop, 10, and Marco Tulio, 5, who has been obsessed with Messi from the time he could walk. They have been sitting on folding chairs for four hours, hoping to see Messi. They waited three hours on Monday but had no luck, so they returned for another try.

How long will they stay? “Until we see him, because I think my son loves Messi more than he loves me,” Alonzo joked.

Their eldest daughter spent $1,800 to buy Edy and Marco Tulio a pair of tickets to the soldout game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (8 p.m., FS1).

The fervor for Inter Miami star Messi and his Argentina teammates is on full display as Copa America gets underway. Just before nightfall Wednesday, Peachtree Street was a sea of sky blue and white, as thousands of fans took to the streets, waving banners and singing in Spanish.

Yerba mate has replaced Coca-Cola as the drink of choice in downtown Atlanta this week, and Argentina’s iconic sky blue and white striped jerseys far outnumber Atlanta United’s black, red and gold striped jerseys.

Messi and his World Cup champion Argentina teammates begin defense of their Copa America title and tens of thousands of diehard fans have flocked here from Buenos Aires, Miami, and all over the United States to see what will likely be Messi’s last time playing in the prestigious tournament.

“Hands down, Argentina has the most fans traveling for Copa America,” said Antonio Paz, a partner at Absolut Sport, the official travel partner for the tournament. “Eighty percent of the packages we sold have been for fans coming from Argentina. They are traveling to all three Argentina group games in Atlanta, Miami and New York/New Jersey. Many are also buying tickets for the quarterfinals, semifinal and the final at Hard Rock Stadium.”

Norberto Torres is among the Argentinean tourists. The 37-year-old from Buenos Aires flew to Atlanta via Miami on Thursday with his father and nephews. From Atlanta they will go to New York for Argentina’s second group stage game against Chile and then on to Miami for the June 29 game against Peru at Hard Rock Stadium.

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